Behringer GDI21

very easy. pick your own settings are go off the examples
in the instruction booklet. useful tones. plug in and go.
great for scratch tracks while recording.

i use this just plug in and play for recording at 96-24bits.
my guitars are all stock: fender strat, gibson sg special and a stock fender tele. this pedal is no more noisey than any other pedal on the market. higher gain settings more noise. want less noise back off the distortion or use a noise gate.
i usually leave the treble and dist at 12 o'clock, bass on full and then use the amp setting switches to dial in the sound i want. i use this for direct recording only. straight into my digital interface recording setup up. great recognizable tones of a variety of amps: british, tweed, hi-gain, california...etc. again i will say it's great for laying down scratch tracks quick in the studio. very usable sounds.

just got this pedal 2 days ago. i actually bought two for use in my studio. so i don't have to set up guitar players amps for scratch tracks if they willing to try the behringers. seems really well built for the price. i was suprised at the weight of the pedal.

haven't had to deal with them.

used in recording studio for variety of styles.
personally i will use it for rock, library style de wolfe funk/jazz/fusion, sabbath style doom and etc.
played 20 years guitar, drums and keys.
stolen i would buy another and if it breaks i would do the same.
it's compact. well built. and you can get a good sound just plugging in and playing. i compared this to the $200 tech 21 that the same features. i saw a video on youtube of a person comparing the two pedals and they sounded the same. wish it had a mid control but you can get different mid tones using the switches. this pedal definately has good enough tone to help me create the music i want to create. i got 2 of these pedals for $60 dollars. i had bought the tech 21 sansamps it would have set me back $400 dollars. ouch.

I would say this is as easy to use a any basic guitar amp. I have used it with some old clean tube amps and through a PA.

I play a Godin LG-P90, Ibanez AF75D and a very old Kalamazoo with replacement lipstick pickups. With this pedal I have played it through two old Tube amps that were extension speakers for real to real systems. They have nice tone but are clean all the way up. I have also connected it to a PA with a BBE Green Screamer (or a Beringer TO800 - nice cheap pedal) into it.

I also play harmonica and have been happy with my initial trials with harmonica. I have not tried it in public but I think that it will probably be very useful to get a nice Chicago sound when I sit in with a band and need to plug in and go.

I play out a couple times a year in small bar settings and at my church once every month or two.

I thought I liked the tone of my amps until I turned the pedal back off. It made a huge tone difference. I mostly use the Tweed setting and it really makes these amps sound like fender. The overdrive is amazingly natural.

It was pretty good in the PA. It was definitely worth the ease of not carrying my amp to church and setting it up, mic-ing it, being told I needed to turn down my amp and then to play the whole service and be told afterward that nobody could hear me anyway. But enough of my church playing grief. It sounded good enough for God. I will continue to use it at church.

My only complaint is that the British and Calif settings are much hotter than the Tweed so that I cannot just flick a switch and go. I need to adjust the drive and volume to get the same volume level. BUt I pretty much stay on Tweed anyway.

The casing is solid. The pots are not high quality but I mainly keep it where it is so I imaging it will last me a long time. I am not hard on my pedals. For the money and my needs it is much studier than most of the expensive modeling equipment.

I had a Behringer pedal (Not this one) fail after a few months. Behringer will not deal directly. You need to go through your seller, and if they are not a Behringer participating retailer (http://www.behringer.com/05_support/service-exchange-usa.cfm?lang=eng) then you may be out of luck. I was in luck and had no issues getting a replacement.

I would be nice if Behringer did this directly. But for the price and sound quality of their equipment I will continue to buy their stuff. I have had great experience with everything I have.

I play in the blues, classic rock space. I love the tweed sound and also like my analog pedals. This fits right in my pedal board when I want to push my smaller, clean tube amps or play through a PA. For me this sounds great and does not have all sorts of complicated stuff I will not use. It is an amp stand in and since I use one amp at a time I really do not even need to switch models on the fly. I love the low-z out for PA.

All I would add to go to the next level would be the ability to switch between two or three user presets and a headphone out for those late night moments of inspiration. But I am happy as it is.

Way too easy to use. If you can't dial in a good tone with this unit I would say it is YOU with the problem.

Excellent sound quality. Dead on with the Tech21 GT2. Thats a good thing.

Super reliable. Only a ham-fisted dolt could break it.

Never used them.

This is a great unit. $30 for a quality piece of equipment is always great. Remember though that this is a direct rip-off of the Tech-21 GT2. The GT2 is made here in the US. It is a top quality unit. This Behringer is made in China with, I would guess, lesser quality parts and such. But the gap in quality is so narrow. Behringer hit a home run with this baby!

Being familiar with Overdrive/Distortion pedals this unit is pretty easy to use.
Just a Two-sided sheet is the "Manual" with all basic info. I would recommend Behringer to include the Input-Output max voltages/dB as a reference.

I use a modified Stratocaster, equipped with Lace Sensor (Blue) on Bridge and a Red on Neck Position; Yamaha RGX with Seymour Duncan JB on Bridge and a DiMarzio Fast Track II on Neck. I??ve used several combos (30-50 watts)most of them solid state and a Mackie 12-chan. mixer for recording.I can get from cool slightly overdriven to blues very easily but it seems imposible to get full clean sounds with humbuckers or high output single coils (just like the Lace Sensors I use).If I run directly to the mixer it cleans up a little bit, I mean, the sound is good, I like it a lot but it??s not totally clean.
The Bluesbraker set-up (BRIT amp + CLN mod) it works very good with the Strat (mmm Robin Trower!!)and Les Paul/Humbuckers (Clapton, Page), full bodied guitar sound, sustain.Again, there??s no way to get a "clean" sound from this set-up, even with the DRIVE fully counterclockwise.
The HOT mod seems too noisy on all AMP settings, but not a big deal for me ??cause my favorite sounds are on CLN and HI G modes.I never use the CALIF amp set-up.
Using it as D.I. Box works very well, so you can record and add effects later on (this is probably the only way to get real clean sounds, but without amp simulation)

Although this unit can be used as a distortion/overdrive pedal I think it??s a good (and very cheap) tool for studio.
I won??t recommend it for live applications unless you use only one sound (carry your AC/DC adapter please).

N/A

I play Rock/Jazz/Blues so I like to go from distorted to clean sounds and everything in between. I played for over 25 years mostly on small clubs and a lot of home recording. My favorite sound is the Strat/neck pu and marshall set-up, very dynamic, it cleans if you pick softer and explodes if you pick harder for solos.
Again, This is more studio/recording oriented, not for live applications. It??s even cheaper than many distortion pedal but this one has the XLR output very useful for studio.

Fairly good sounding unit. Sounds like what it's a copy of except they tweaked the gain and eq a touch...a touch too much. If you are using EMG's or hot pickups, getting a clean sound is difficult.
I compared it to a Tech21 Tri-ac, and the Tri-ac blew it out of the water for clean tones. With some work I was able to get a similar british tone on the two units but without a mid control I couldn't find a tone I really liked on the GDI21.

I was using a F-100 with emg81-85, A dean with two 81's, and a PV with Hot Rails. This ran directly into an alesis Monitor one.
I a/b it with a Tech 21 Tri ac and a V-amp.
Aside from the difficulty getting clean tones, there was also a wierd
chirp sound that came and went with palm mutes on both the British and California tones. Sounded like the chip hitting its supply rails.
I lowered the levels and it got better but was still there untill I lowered the guitar's volume.
I am pretty picky about tone and go from a real clean warm tone to a very heavy super saturated but clear metal sound. This thing could certainly saturate, but not well.

I'm sure it would hold up fine for what it is. I bought two and they will both go in my PA case...yes one is a backup.

Grrrrr

I play metalish originals, occasional cover stuff. Been playing off and on for 10 years.
If it were stolen, I'd buy something else for myself, but replace it for the PA.
Don't love it or hate it, it will serve as a backup just fine for when guitarists "forget" to bring their amp.
I tried it because I thought I might use 4 of them to build a 4 channel guitar preamp, and because I bought the BDI21 and ADI21 as well for the PA. Also thought it might be close enough to the original
to use at home. Not so, I'll have to buy a second original.

This device is easy to get a good sound out of. I don't mess much with the knobs and instead rely on the switches. The manual is minimal, but it offers some switch and knob settings that might be helpful in getting started.

I run an AL-2000 guitar through a Behringer Hellbabe wah pedal along with a Behringer FX600 multi-effects pedal. The sound goes to an old Charvel bass amp.
I love the distortion, especially in the "British" position. It has a great crunch to it. If you want to go really over the top, try the California setting amp setting on high gain. You might get some noise if you try that setting. I prefer British, hi-gain and classic for the mic position setting.

I've had it for a month with no problems. I don't gig, but I suppose this unit would stand up to all but the most enthusiastic stomping. It's cheap enough that a backup wouldn't be hard to swing.

Never dealt with Behringer on customer support issues.

I like to bang away on hard rock power chords and occasionally do some blues and jazz. This pedal gives me a good variety of sounds.
I've been playing off and on for a number of years and consider myself an amateur player. If I lost it, I'd get another.
I just love the sound of this box. It's a steal at $30.

Very easy to dial up a great sound.

Ok I bought this new for 25 bucks. I liked it so much I had to buy what it was designed after a Tech 21 Sansamp GT2. I was very suprised how much quiter and crunchier it is over the Sansamp. I am using this as a gain pedal. Setting and gear. Marshall MG100 DFX 1/12 combo.
Guitar, MXR Super Comp(output 75%,attack level 50%,Sen. 55to60%,Behringer GDI21(Drive 60%, Treb. 75%, Bass and Level around 60%, into Amp. The clean channel is the one. Vol. as desired, bass 40%, Mid 50%, Treb.65%. Balance the channels to use one as the lead Channel for a boost. I love the sound on the clean channel for rythym
so I set up the drive channel to boost when needed. The super comp adds endless sustain to either channel. Mind you I was trying to improve the solid state amp problem of sounding like a solid state amp. This helps alot.

The case is a hard thick plastic. The settings for the dip switch is as follows,Calif,Hi G, Off X.

Giged once and used recording. Everythings good so far.

Not Needed as of yet.

Great grind for a solid state amp. I like it over these pedals I do own and have used live and in the studio. Boss DS1, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Tech21 GT2. If it holds up to the consent use this is a best buy and a must have. At under 30 dollars I am blown away.
It does have a little heft and has a solid metal casing. Oh yes it can be used as a direct box and has a mike cable input between the two 1/4 in. standard inputs.

Well, all the knobs are already described, i just want to give hints on very easy mods for that gear

Maybe this aint no news for some readers, but there is a dead-easy mod, that enhances the tonal variation (not realy the quality, though it could sound better through your amp, dunno):
You can have

1. A British mode, that is much more cleaner und not that compressed, by twiddling the AMP selector inbetween the tweed and british mode. So when u use the britisch modified mode, it gives you some sort of boost to the stock and compressed british mode. If u like the sound, open the back and solder 2 wires to bottom LEFT pinouts from the AMP-switch and the two other lugs to a jack with a switching option. That way the "boost" can be footcontrolled.

2. A real boosting option for all the three Sound-modes:
Twiddle the MOD-selctor in between the CLN and HI G-mode. It sounds much more open and loder than the HI-G (as the CLN MODE is, too).If u want it to be footswitchable, solder two wires to the bottom RIGHT pinouts of the MOD-selector and to a jack with swithing option like mentioned above.

Hope that helps someone....

Without mod ill give it a 6.5 cause it sound to muffled an compressed and was not that variable in tone as i thought it to be (compared to the REAL GT2-Samples on the Tech21 Homepage).
With that mods its getting an 8.

Very easy to use.
No need manual. Just plug and play!

I use this for practicing and giving lesson purpose.
It works really well and fulfills my goals.
Normally, I give lesson with Epiphone Les Paul Special and some cheap transistor amp (50W, 1x12 inch speaker, in clean ch.)
In my opinion, it sounds really awesome.
I have also POD XT Live and GT-8.
I mean... in these days, amp simulators are really fine.
So if you need some cheap one, this is the best deal on the current market.

It made of plastic. So it does not seem to be tough.
I think it does not matter.
Seriously, is there anybody who is gonna use this in your gigs?
Come on!!!

Never dealt with them.

It costs about U$ 30.00, right?
You get what you pay for...
So there is no complaint.
I think it sounds really great.
Comparing Sansamp GT-2, it really sounds similar and GT-2 costs about U$ 190.00. (six times much!!!)

This thing is very straightforward concerning dialing in the amp sound you desire. The manual was more like a small brochure, which is okay, because the unit is very easy to tweak. It's not rocket surgery.

Since EVH is my favorite guitarist, I've been mostly concerned with getting the "brown sound" out of the BRITISH setting. I don't have several thousand dollars laying around that I can buy a Marshall Plexi head and a greenback-loaded cabinet with, so, there you go. I have to agree with other reviewers who said that the cabinet simulation is thin, and that they needed to add a cabinet simulator after the GD121 to beef it up. Actually, I tried that (the speaker simulator from a TECH 21 TRI-OD pedal). It was okay, but it still lacked the "juice" my ears craved. I tried running it through different amps, but I didn't hit the jackpot till I ran it through my SANSAMP BASS DRIVER DI. So after a lot of tweaking and listening, I've come up with this formula for getting the brown sound, middle-class working man's style:
GD121: DRIVE>between 12:00 and maxed (depending on the output of your pickup). BASS>maxed. TREBLE>maxed. LEVEL>between 9:00 and 12:00.
AMP>British. MOD>Hot-Wired. MIC>Center. GND LIFT>N/A.
BASS DRIVER: LEVEL>12:00. BLEND>maxed. TREBLE>12:00. BASS>12:00. DRIVE>12:00. PRESENCE>12:00. The BLEND control really brings out the character of the guitar. After combining these 2 pedals, I came up with a very juicy, dynamic, articulate sound with plenty of preamp gain and power amp punch. The only thing missing is the feedback and overtones a real amp provides. Other than that, it's a very satisfying sound.
The TWEED sound is very basic. If you want that unmistakeable "soft clip" that a real Fender tube amp provides, you won't get it here. You should put a compressor pedal in front of the GD121.
The CALIF sound is good for hi-gain metal, like Metallica, etc., but you won't find any good clean Mesa sounds here. I was hoping I could find Larry Carlton's smooth jazz sound. Not available.
I didn't notice any noise with the unit unless I put a compressor and or eq in front of it.
I'm giving this a 6 since I had to add another amp simulator pedal to it to complete the sound.

The unit seems very reliable.
I wouldn't gig with it because there's no channel selection.

I haven't had to deal with the company.

I play mostly classic rock and blues. This works okay for it. I don't like having to combine it with another pedal though. I wish all the sound quality I want would be in one pedal. If it were stolen or lost, I'm not sure that I'd buy another one. But for $30, you can't beat it. Besides the sound quality, I would recommend that Behringer would make a multi-channel amp emulator, like the SANSAMP TRI-AC. This would make it giggable, instead of just a recording tool.

Easy to use, a few switches and knobs and theres also an XLR output which rocks.

This thing could blow your amp out if you turned all the knobs up, because it increases your output after about 9 o clock on the knobs. This is my favorite pedal because of the great tone. Even on crappy amps it sounds fantastic. It sounds best when I use it with my Marshall solid state, and also really good with epiphone valve junior (all tube). Grade A distortion! It does hiss more than my other pedals though

Love it. If I lost it, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat!

Very easy to use but it has a LOT of volume and distorted gain.

Controls are:
Gain, Treble, Bass, Volume
switch for 3 amp models, switch for 3 distortion modes, switch for said mic positions but really they're just cabinet models

Sound quality is good to very good. You can actually use a compressor or other pedal with enough volume output in front of it to overdrive it like an amp and plug straight into the board or PA.

It does a good job of overdriving an amp and of all the Behringer distortion pedals I've used and owned, it doesn't really get harsh as you push it. It also doesn't take much finess to dial in the sounds you want. It has so much headroom that you really shouldn't have to crank it up anywhere near max levels to get the desired level of gain and volume needed to overdrive your amp.

It just really has a LOT of power. I guess on some level it can take some finess to match up with your amp but it's not frustrating or anything along those lines.

Plastic shaft pots but in this case I'd be less worried about damaging them compared to the other Behringer pedals although they are more in the open to being trampled.

It's plastic body with heavy cast metal bottom plate like all Behringer pedals but this is definitely the most heavy duty. It would fair better than the others on the road and for gigging. The stomp button is odd but cool. Upon opening it, it's the same thing EVERY pedal has. A tiny PC button for bypass.

Overall it's THE pedal to buy, PERIOD. Pro, beginner..whatever. It's just incredibly useful and sounds really good. Sure it could be better but not much.

I'd definitely buy it again.

Pretty much standard stompbox functions. Bypass switch, Gain, Treble, Bass and Level pots. There are also 3 switches that select between amps (tweed, brit, calif), mods (clean, hi gain, hot) and mics (classic, central, off centre). Another switch enables the ground lift feature for the DI.

This is an analog guitar amp modeler that can also allow your signal to go into console balanced and nice through an XLR output. Many people would find this very very helpful as you can play a gig with just your guitar and this little box. Plug it into the mixing console, dial your sound (in analog circuitry!!) and play along. I still prefer the traditional way of carrying a hell of a lot of gear around and putting a mic in front of the speaker... Still this little blue box has become an integral part of my sound. I use it as a preamp and put ny wah, distortion boxes, overdrives etc in front of it and any delays, chorus'es, reverbs and so on, after it and then plug into a power amplifier with a good broad spectrum guitar speaker and have ANY TONE I WANT. The DI output in my setup only serves to plug my tuner on, using an XLR to phono plug. The TWEED setting with my stratocaster is absolutelly identical to Cobain's clean sounds and when using high gain or an overdrive it turns to SRV. The best emulation however can be found at the BRIT setting. Playing with MOD, MIC, treble and bass you can have everything from Rory gallagher's VOX to Jimi Hendrix's Marshall in seconds. I only use the CALIF setting for Metallica type tone and really over the edge Nirvana type distortion. Of course, any setting, when driven by my TS-9DX or my RAT all hell breaks loose... What is more important is that being analog it responds immediatelly to my playing and there is no lag or digital noise whatsoever. However this brings us to the reason the rating is 8 an not 10. This thing is noisy!! Because of the gain this circuit employs,the use of low noise op-amp's would make a whole lot of difference (Behringer, are you reading this?) On the other hand there are many amplifiers that cost many times the money this little box costs and make equally as many times its noise (belive me I know...).

Many Behringer pieces of gear have found their way to my hands (and feet) all these years and none of them has ever let me down, despite their unbelieveably low price. This one is made of plastic but the bottom is metal (of course) and the stomp switch is very sturdy. I stepped on it with my full body weight (a 3 figure number in Kilos!!) and it still works fine. It is not exactly the stompbox that you would dance on (a wah for instance) so it will hold. Definately road worthy. Even thought it is now an integral part of my sound I know I can gig it without a backup. I would however use a noise filtered power supply since it can easily eat trough a rechargable battery in less that 2 hours!!!!!

Never dealt with them. The web site however (www.behringer.com) provides a whole lot of information about anything you want and need. It even has user manuals for all the gear they have in many different languages (including Greek!!!).

When I first bought this it was because I wanted to try Behringer's analog modelling without buying a full amplifier of the V-tone series that pretty much use this circuit as the preamp. I play anything from blues to punk and from ska to metal so I need something that can provide for many different tones. I did not think it would be any match for the Sansamp GT2 since it costs a whole lot less (I was wrong!) but I thought I'd give it a try. First impression was not good at all because of the setup I was using. I used it as any other distortion box which it absolutelly is NOT!! I cannot emphasize this enough. This is not just another distortion box. At least not only... Look at the writing on the box and use it as it says: Guitar Amp Modeler. That's what it is. Take advantage of it and have fun! Now I know it makes the GT2 look like a VERY overpriced piece of gear. Of course I'd buy it again if it got stolen. It is so cheep, I'd buy two and run them through an A/Y box as a two channel amplifier...

Plenty easy to use. Very simple design. I didn't read the manual, it's completely self-explanatory.

It sounds okay. For the price it's a good tool to have around for direct recording. I use ProTools and got a decent sound going direct into the M-Box.

I say "decent" sound because it definitely doesn't blow me away as far as sound quality goes. It does not sound as good as a real amp. Maybe that goes without saying though. I put a digital reverb after it and it sounded a lot better. An analog delay would probably make it sound even better yet.

After a couple of uses I stopped using this though. My primary recording guitar is a semi-hollow body with humbuckers, and unfortunately this pedal/preamp does not handle this guitar well. It easily distorts in an awful digital way with this guitar. It worked much better, and cleaner, with my single coil guitars, but takes too much tweaking to stay clean and clear with humbuckers, at least in my experiences. What's worse is that when you back off enough to keep in clean it loses it's sense of life in the tone, sounding dry and thin. The 'mic' settings help this and are a nice feature, but ultimately still doesn't sound as good as it should. I switched back to using a POD-like amp simulator and immediately noticed a much better sound than I had been getting with this pedal. After that I haven't used it much.

I only used the 'fender' setting, aiming to get a 'clean channel' amp sound for direct recording. With a little more gain it does a reasonably usable bluesy grind, but still sounds like a pedal to me, not really like a real amp. The marshall and mesa settings are not very usable to me. They're ok, but neither sounds quite good enough to use. They might be better if used together with a real amp though, but I didn't buy this for that and didn't try it in that way.

The main problem is that the pedal can't handle very strong signals without getting that digital distortion that sounds awful. But if you play a single coil guitar it might not be a problem.

It sounds good for the meager price and works as advertised, it's just not as good as it could or should be.

Seems reliable, even though it's plastic.

No experience. This is an inexpensive product though so I doubt I'd bother contacting them if it failed.

It's worth having around just in case you need a simple and fast way to record direct without an amp, but I found my other, digital amp simulator to be better sounding and additionally more flexible. For the nice array of settings and knobs you get with this pedal, it is ironically pretty limited as far as usable sounds go. The 'fender' setting with the 'mic sim' on is the best sounding setting, in my opinion, especially with a reverb after it. It's definitely usable, and the price is great. I played a song I recorded direct with this pedal using a single coil guitar for a friend and he was surprised it was a direct box because the sound was pretty nice. I haven't found any of the other settings to be terribly usable though, the other distortions are too over the top for my taste. And it didn't seem to be very usable with humbuckers, a disappointment.

The best thing about it is how simple and easy it is to just plug in and record. It's good to have around for recording late at night at home, for example. If I didn't already have a better amp simulator on hand, I imagine I would've gotten more use out of this. The fact that this, unlike many other POD-like units, does not need to be programmed is its main appeal. I hate to get stuck scrolling through menus and re-tweaking a bunch of settings with digital gear when all I want to do is plug in and lay down a track. That's why I keep this around for those spontaneous moments. But, like I've already said, I rarely use it any more because the better sound quality I get with my digital amp sim is generally worth any extra set-up time involved.

This is also an ideal tool to have on hand to take to friend's and other player's places to jam or record without having to bring an amp or other more expensive gear. It's so cheap you never need worry about what might happen to it in any potentially unfriendly environments. And despite its flaws, it does the job well enough to get a decent sound with no fuss whatsoever, so I rate it highly. For how little it costs it is definitely a good value.

very very very very easy

Thats a great performance with gdi21 and also in its price range there isn't another one with this sound quality

This one is a no brainer. Plug it in, have a quick look at the manual, dial in a sound you like, and experiment. The presets are good starting points. Depending on preference and the types of pickups you use, you may want to either increase or back off on the gain and treble knobs. The XLR cable seems a bit stiff when I attempt to record direct but it might be the cable.. its hard to get on and off. Construction doesn't worry me as I bought this for home studio and am careful enough with it.

Alright so sound quality.. well as far as modelers go, this thing is analog, so for me, it beats the digital modelers right off the bat. I have tried the POD and tried VST plugins or soft amp modelers like Amplitube, an never 100% sold. I find the sound to be too even across all strings and never tight enough or responsive enough on the E and A strings for chugging and expression. As this is analog, it responds to the way I play. The amp models are pretty good. Comparing my Marshall to the plexi sound.. close enough. The California sounds are a tad muddy and thick/flat for my taste (decent for lead work though)but I like the tweed and plexi sounds. Lets face it though, all those models really are , are changes in the distorion levels.. nothing more. Play with the Bass and treble, back off on the distortion, fool around with mic' placement, and there is your tweed sound. Want it eben more authentic, use a strat. That simple.. the Sansamp GT2 which i also owned briefly was just a tad crisper and tighter, but not worth the 160$ more I had originally paid for it in comparison to the 60$ canadian (after tax) I paid for this. For direct recording, I find this missing the mark.. but soo far I have found almost all the direct recording I have tried, missed the mark. The sound in through the XLR cable to mixer or other audio device is fizzy..you'll encounter the same thing when trying to capture the signal direct from your amp. So I ran it through various cabinet software simulators and it definitely is useable but I just can't find anything I really like. What I ended up doing was simply mic'ing my Marshall Valvestate s80 with this running rather than the usual gain channel and the sound is pretty good. The only drawback being that when engaged through the amp's speakers, this thing is "thinner", not as much body. (also makes you wonder that at this point should i not just have stuck with the amp?)Still though, its another tool that will assist in tone shaping and its cheap, porteable, and sounds good. Sounds much better than a simple distortion pedal in my opinion.

Also to be noted, when you disengage the amp sim, the clean channel or bypass to your amp will sound distorted in the back round. Its faint and ever soo slight, but you hear it especially through monitopring headphones.What you probably need to do is set the gain and levels on the pedal lower if you want to bypass this thing properly.

We'll see.. I've only had it a week so hopefully it lasts.. if it craps out on me, its not the end of the world.

I am mainly a rock guy but enjoy some funk, some progressive metal, and just good old school chops players like Moore, Shenker, Gilbert, DeMartini, Friedman etc... I cannot stand that tinny metal sound (like my Boss Metalzone) and like a smoother more rounded distortion. I think this pedal provides that and has its place in favour of those. In fact, I think beginner players would be well off getting this and playing it through a tube amp rather than buying these fizzy crunchy distortion pedals. For what it does, i'd give it for sound , an 8. It lacks the body that you get through an actual preamp being played through a cabinet or speakers though.For direct recording though, not sure this is your guy. I simply don't think direct recording can be successful without investing more into a proper unit in the 3-400$ range. Worth a try though!

very easy to use, analog controls, simple easy to read manual, if u can work a distortion pedal, you can operate this thing, but it's not a distortion pedal, it's a preamp modeler

i use this on different amps (marshall, behringer, peavey, crate). I usually use it alone with a wah in front of it. it's sounds amazing! the best modeler i've played, and i've played a few (digitech, line 6, boss). Most modelers can nail the amp sound, but lack some of the depth or the deminsional character the amp has. The GDI nailed it perfectly; a nice thick, deep, 3 deminsional sound that make tube amps so special. it's a little noisy, but that's to be expected (gain-based effect). very flexible from fender twin to mesa rectifiers, it's all good. knobs are very sensitive so you really have to tweak it carefully, coz if you set the drive too high it will clip, which will lose ur definition. but that's no problem if you u take the time to set the drive last and enough to where it sustains and still has clarity. Anyways, this pedal rocks! best modeler in the market so far. Keep it comin' behringer!

This is where I have an issue (not a big thing but to me it's important). NO POWER SUPPLY! I've looked all over for one and no luck, i've tried different kinds of power supplies, and nothing. No stores or catalogs have them, not even behringer website doesn't say anything about them or how to get them. don't think they actually have them for sale. It may not be important to you guys but it is to me, i hate using batteries. other than that, it's very sturdy; reliable plastic, won't break on you uhless you just abuse the crap out of your gear, but a $50 a pop it's no problem to replace. if i have a power supply i'd gig w/o a backup!

I checked behringer's website and it says that it can be used with a power supply ( 2mm female jack with negative polarity and at least 50 ma) but doesn't mention a brand name or how to find one that's compatable, or how to buy one from them. I called behringer (USA division) and i was told that they didn't sell the power supply at this time but that i can find one that's compatable at radio shack. I went to radio shack and tried out their power supplies (using the unit's power requirements-2mm female jack. etc..)----not compatable! Behringer did not give me the right info on the powersupply, so i'm still stuck and i felt that they didn't take my problem seriously,

i play every style of music, from country to metal, it doesn't matter. i've been playing for 15 years and have many various amps and fx's. if it was lost or stolen i'd just get another one (no big boo). I like that it's a modeler with a thick 3-D tone. i hate that it came with a knob for mids for more tonal flexibility. For it's price it blow some high end modelers out the water. Just wish it had a power supply available. if u love tube amp sound but can't afford one, this is the next best thing and i'll stand behind it. if i can find a power supply i'm gonna get a few of them and put 2 in my pedal board ( one set to marshall[brit] for my dirt, and one set to fender (tweed) for cleans)and 2 more for just in case some one gets a sticky finger or if i just want to use it alone i'd have a spare. conclusion: great pedal, great sound, great price, great investment, behringer keep on making great products!!!

Four knobs-drive, treble, bass and level, easy so far. The switch matrix allows you to choose between Fender, Marshall or Boogie amps, clean, overdrive or high-gain settings, 3 mic placement option and a ground isolation switch.
All pretty obvious to the eye if on a desk but fiddly on a stage floor. The manual is a leaflet but you won't need it.

Whats great about this is that it sounds good in front of an amp or straight into a PC or portastudio. You can't turn off the mic placement sims, you just select a setting that sounds good.
Generic sounding amp sims, nothing highly accurate but highly useable. My amp is a Marshall DSL401 all-valve combo and at gigs the GDI worked great for getting heavy Boogie-esque overdrive out of the clean channel, which has a gutsier sound when overdriven than the drive channel. I use a Behringer clean boost pedal after the GDI for solo boost, and it works great. At home I use a lot of the other settings though.
It's too dirty, the Fender sim is clean enough but the Marshall and Boogie ones are no good for blues, it's too overdriven so I use it for a really meaty sound. Just a shame I can't get a light crunch out of the Marshall setting.

Plastic, but better quality plastic than the Boss-clone Behringer pedals. Seems OK. Puke wipes off easily. (we play in some real dives)

n/a

I paid #32 quid for this and I reckon it's worth twice that.
Behringer and Danelectro have moved the ballpark when it comes to cheap FX but you have to be careful: I sent one Behringer Distortion pedal back because it sounded like it was farting but the clean boost was OK so I gave 'em a second chance. I play mostly Rock covers: Stones, Kaiser Chiefs, ZZTop, Lizzy, Alanis Morisette, you name it. I've been playing a long time and tried all sorts of gear. I'm not a pro, and the way stuff gets bashed about and abused at gigs, not to mention nicked, it's really worth having decent sounding gear at 'throwawy' prices that can be replaced easily. Yeah, I'd love a Sparkle Drive but if four drunken louts fall over my pedalboard and spill lager all over it I can't afford to replace it easily. I got the GDI specifically to go in front of a little practice amp I have thats got a weak preamp and this warms it up brilliantly without hooking up my Pod, which I use for recording. I've never tried any Tech21 gear so I have no idea how it fares next to the Sansamp.
I give it an 8 because for the money this is a great bit of kit.

Very easy to use. The treble and bass are responsive controls. you can get a serious amount of gain w/this pedal but at the same time, clean up and get a bluesbreaker type gain.
The manual offers really easy 'edits' as jumping points. I was able to get my own sound after tinkering for a while BUT you'd be better off using this as a pre-amp and not NOT a pedal. The tone controls will compete against your amp's controls...not fun and time consuming!!!!! Run this sucker thru the effects loop on a tube amp and watch out!

I am running a Visual Sound h2O into a Fulldrive 2 and then into the GDI-21. My guitar is a Dean EVO Special (upgraded PRS p/u's HFS and V-Bass). My amp is a Peavey Ultra 112 w/Groove Tube 6L6's in the power amp stage. This set up is quiet and i hate noisy signals....annoying.
The only bad sounds I've found is when using the Tweed Clean settings as they are not inspiring. I could care less if things sound 'like a Fender' b/c I'm looking for a certain tone but rather a GREAT Tone!

Running this thru the power section of a Peavey Ultra 112 (horrible preamp section...fizzy tube tone that sounds like ginger ale bubbles) is a Godsend. Unreal depth and clarity. Tight bass and treble that cuts just a tad thru. My tone w/the puppy is a cross btwn AC/DC crunch and Zakk Wylde gain....awesome sounds.
This pedal will go from AC/DC, to Zakk Wylde to Godsmack to whatever you need!!!! Rolling off the guitars volume, the gain cleans up nicely. It is responsive to your pick attack and playing.
For the first week or so I ran this as an overdrive pedal, lousy...lousy lousy. Not intended for this and dont waste your time!

This pedal seems to be pretty well built, I've had it 2 months now and dont see any change in quality. It's plastic yes but it doesnt feel cheap (their other pedals are a different story.....).
I run this on all the time as it's my overdrive channel
-it's too new to comment on reliability so i'll check back and let ya know-

n/a

I play rock and blues mainly and have been playing for 20 yrs now.
I dont own a ton of gear b/c i prefer to keep my stuff simple. If this were lost, i'd buy it again-that's a no brainer! I love this thing and look at it wondering how $30 can produce Marshall, Mesa and most importantly ME!
All I can say is buy this thing but if you do, run it thru the power amp section....

Very easy to get a great sound out of it. I had a loan of a marshall VS100 and dialed in the same tone in the gdi21 very quickly. You don't need a manual for a box like this

Some gibson humbuckers and fender single coil guitars. All sound great through it. Noise increases with gain just like most amps and fx but it's not excessive. Sounds great through just about any amp and guitar.

The fender and marshall tones are very close to the real thing. The pre-rectifier era mesa boogie tone isn't bad either. The speaker simulator switch gives some interesting tone options. Haven't tried the DI output yet.

Each of the knobs have a lot of range so even small changes to a knob will make a noticible tone change. You can easily plug this into a loud power amp and control the volume between bedroom levels through to defcon 3 levels.

One of my better purchases. This is a keeper. Great for nearly all amp sounds from clean, grunge, blues, rock and old school metal. You'll need something else for modern high gain metal.

I have several nice valve combos and mostly like to plug in without effects but i always keep the GDI21 on hand for some instant variety.

Ease of use is good. it fairly straight forward as with all other guitar stuff give it time to find the settings for you...

i find the sound quality ok i use it mainly to go thru my M-Audio DUO USB interface into Mackie's tracktion where i use amplitube LE. i always had problem of my guitar sounding very dull and liveless. since useing the Behringer i have a much more crisp sound, and thats only using it as a DI. sometimes i use the CLN setting with about 3o'clock treble and just over half bass this gives my double humbucker guitar a almost strat like raunchyness( specially for funky stuff)

cant say to new.... wouldnt gig it though as main button as plastic...

N/A everything from behringer worked so far (fingers crossed)

I have been playing for about 15yrs. i have had lots of 19"stuff... digitech marshall engl. sansamp... and am now having my main setup which is TONELAB SE;thru a Tech21 PowerEngine60( perfect match ) with a Blade Texas Special and a heavily modified(wilkinson trem VS50,<duncan Pickups, and schaller lockings tuners and belt lockers) Stagg PRS copy. it will never reach the sound of my live setup but for its purpose as a DI or even signal booster its great... i rarely use the tonelab as AMPLITUBE and Behringer give me enough choice to model sounds... except maybe for those late night sessions where i improvise over anything... well then nothing can match TONELAB&BLADE...

as always... check for yourself... i will pick up the bassversion in a couple of weeks... it only cost what any 20something uses on dinner or going out anyway...

Using this as a pre-amp running thru the power amp, etc. you can't get a bad sound from this thing.
I have nailed Marshall-esque tones to a tee! Zakk Wylde, ACDC, Alex Lifeson's 'Limelight' tone, and Van Halen1 EVH.
Google 'Sansamp GT2 unofficial' and you'll get to the unofficial website for the GT2. it has tons, TONS of sound options.

Very very easy to use.

I'm running both a Dillion PRS copy (w/coil taps) and a Dean EVO LP copy (coil taps and upgraded PRS p/u's-Vintage Bass and HFS) into the effects return on a Peavey Ultra 112 (w/EH 6L6's). I have a Visual Sound h2O and Fulltone Fulldrive2 in btwn. Neither pedal messes w/the sound negatively. The h2O adds a nice mid bump regardless of it being on or off.
Noise is not a problem at all unless i tap the coils and then it's not the pedal's fault.
This little $30 pedal is a no brainer purchase. I have not found a tone that could be tossed out. I was listening to some old recordings when i had my Mesa Boogie and you know what, I nailed the tone ounce for ounce w/this Behringer. This little gem is priced less than the tubes for a Mesa and i have no bias problems anymore!!!!!

BUT-dont use this as a 'pedal' (distortion, OD, or otherwise) b/c the GDI21 is so powerful that you'll be battling eq's btwn your amp and this. It's a direct or preamp device.

HINT-buy 2 of these and set one for a Fender tone and the other Marshall, Mesa. The get an a/b box to 'channel change'. You'll be in heaven for less than $100. If you are really smart and on a budget, get an all tube Peavey off of eBay and run your GDI21 thru the power amp section. You wont be disappointed.

I'm not sure where the gripes are coming from w/this being plastic...it's a well made pedal. Treat your stuff w/a bit of care, velcro it to a pedalboard or something.

dont smash your foot down b/c you WILL bust it but that's your own negligence.

buy 2 and have a backup.

i dont gig anymore but i would have a back up for this b/c it's not expensive and my main source of tone. nothing is perfect, ya know?

dont know. great website though....

I've been playing for over 20 years and have been thru TONS of gear. I play all styles except heavy death metal stuff.
I like inexpensive but good sounding gear b/c you can get your own sound.
I would buy this again, hands down.

all i can say is go buy one b/c you'll only be out $30 if you are unhappy BUT i can guarantee you WILL be happy!!!!
dont let the name or what you pay for this get in your way. Many more professionals are using Behringer than you think!

Very easy to use. Models a bunch of different amps, and I love all of them. I use this mostly as a more vintage kind of distortion pedal. The switches make it easy to use.

I love the vintage and palm muting tones you can get out of this thing. My only problem with it is the level knob is way off. If you set it to the middle it will come on really loud, you have to set the level to 25% to get a smooth transition. I used it at a gig and the knob was set a little too high, to like 35% and it came on WAY too loud, it sounded really bad.

I dont know if I'll ever trust this thing at a gig again. The knobs are really sensitive and turn really easily. If you use it at a gig you need to check if everything is set right. It looks like it is built pretty solid though, and I would use this at a gig without a backup provided I had time to do a good sound check.

Great peice of gear for its price. The only thing I would improve is make a stronger stomp button, make the knobs less sensitive, and make it so the knobs work more gradually.

This pedal is extremely easy to use. Any one who has used a pedal, or an amp proir to operating this unit will have no problem figuring it out. It's so intuitive, no manual required.

The only gripe that I have is that the knobs and switches do not have clear indicator markings as to where they are set. My practice room is kinda dark, and I had a hard time when I visually checked my settings.

It's all in there. I tried to get SRV and EC tones using my strat and Classic 30. No problem there. Then I found Ted Nugent with my Les Paul. Creed and Nickelback with my PRS. Tweak away, this pedal offers so much diversity that it is absolutly unbeleivable for a $30 pedal. I have a TS9, a gen. I Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal, a BD2, and a Digitech Screamin' Blues lined up on my pedal board, and I emulated each of them with the GDI21.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
There is one thing that I would definately recommend using with this little gem - an EQ pedal. I have the Boss GE-7. What a difference this can and will make.

I believe that the EQ pedal/unit is one of the most under-rated pieces of equipment available to us as guitarists. I think that every guitarist's tone can benefit from this simple gadget in one way or another. I have heard of people swapping sreakers and tubes, only to end up back where they started with the addition of a simple EQ pedal. Which, by the way, is much more economical than buying tubes or speakers.

I own a Behringer Ultra-G DI, and a UB 1836 FX pro mixer and have had zero problems with either of them. Having said that, I anticipate no problems with this unit. It looks to be rugged and well built. But guess what, for thirty bucks, if it lasts a year, I'll just go out and get number 2 if it breaks!

I've emailed them and had a replies in less that 24 hours.

I like all kinds of music from blues to rock to metal. This pedal allows me to pull all of these tones from one handy little box.

I have not used it with a solid state amp yet, I have not recorded to my Tascam 788 with it yet, and I have not ran it through my PA yet, so I may very well come back to add more comments at another date. Some reviewers have tried it through the Ultra-G, I am looking forward to trying that too.

So far I love it.

it has a 'drive' 'treble' 'bass' 'level' knob; amp type; drive type and mic position switches and a ground lift switch for d.i. applications; having used the sansamp gt-2; its nothing new and pretty easy to operate; getting a good sound of it is probably easy if you know what you're after.

I used to have a gt-2 and i used it on the tweed setting for giving the sound a sweet compression and a little gain and it would sit at the end of the pedal chain; then into the desk or an amp;
I sold to gt-2 to buy some other toy; and after I while I found that I really had good use for it; so when this cheap copy came out; I was really thrilled and got my hands on as soon as I could;
and of course the first thing I tried was to get the same sound by using the clean setting with moderate drive ; so the setting would be all knobs pointing at 11 o'clock; amp at tweed; drive at clean, and mic position at centre; now if I use the behringer with the exact same setting the sound is way over distorted; its like I'm using a ibanez tube screamer at the end of the pedal chain and I'm forced to turn the drive knob right down to '0' so it points like 7 o'clock;
and most of the time it makes the overall sound tinny for some reason when i do that but there is no middle ground; when I turn the drive up it will distort real fast and the distortion is not the sweet overdrive/clean tone you get from a gt-2 in the same setup
so I primarily use it as a d.i box with the effect turned off;
however, i've found another use for the box; when I go to rehearsals I can use it as a drive pedal, I play in a couple of bands and one of them is a top 40 cover band; and I need the drive for mainly solos; so at the rehearsals; i take a boss ge-7 EQ box (which is crap, very noisy in a pedal chain, and will probably be replaced with an mxr box soon) and the behringer ; what i've found is that overall the drives are really really more than the original sansamp; the drive amount you get when you use the drive knob on the behringer at say 10 o'clock is equal to what you get on the sansamp at 2 o'lock (marshall setting; on hi-gain and the mic is on classic)

I only had it for a short while; but seems ok; I dont keep it in the box; and it travels in an aluminum case with all the other pedals and cables. adapters etc; and any good build should be able to handle that (at least my boss pedals are doing fine up to now - so was the gt-2)
If it breaks down; having it repaired will probably be too much hassle; I'll just get another one for 30 dollars

I've dealt with behringer support in the past for my fcb 1010 midi controller and contrary to what I used to hear about them; they were really great; My midi controller needed the eprom upgrade; so I emailed them (Germany) and they sent me the eprom in a few days with ups; free of charge. Great service for me

I usually play rock music; and the drive I need should be good for solos and wil