DigiTech 2112

I feel sorry for the poor slobs that left a bad review, My guess is the couldn't figure out how to use it. The 2112 is not a toy, if you expect this thing to make a Peavey back stage 40 sound good,buy a Rp50. I bought my 2112 in 1999, and you'll have to rip the 2112 out of my cold dead fingers. I run the 2112 into VHT 252 stereo tube amp into marshall 4/10 artist cabs (same sound as the 4/12 but smaller, lighter and still 30 watt celestion equiped of corse)I had a recent scare when the battery went dead and I lost my settings. I was frantic looking for something romotely equivalant to it. There isn't. The 2112 is not a plug and play preamp, it takes time and a few weeks of programing. It's the ultimate guitar preamp, no tech is needed back stage. With the solo feature no more worries about the sound man who just mist the first three mesures of your solo trying to pick up the chick at the back. No need for a second guitar player for harmony leads, tell the 2112 what key and what scale and now you can add a keyboard player. From Johny Cash to Pantera, the 2112 delivers the goods.
The 2112 is rugged, I had a overly exited fan get caught in the cabling and watch my 2212 fall off the marshall full stack. 8 years of touring and riding in the trailer from gig to gig. From burning hot summer temps to -20 blizzards in North Dakota my 2112, is still kickin hard and heavy (with the new battery and 5 hours reprograming my settings). So for those poor slobs that don't like the 2112, stick to your beringer preamp, crate amp and the garage your playing in or better yet go back to playing guitar hero!

Lynard Skynard, Eagles, 38 Special, Cars, Duran Duran, Boston, Cheap trick, Forigner,Pantera, Megadeth, Reo and everything in between the 2112 has not disapointed. it takes some effort but with the two types of distortion (real tube and solid that is blendable) I can sounds like Golden earing or Ozzy. (Zak or Randy)

Giong on Ten years with the 2112. It's a tank

Manual is downloadable if you lose it. Upgrade is easy to do yourself and Digitech will direct you to a qualified repair shop (The battery Scare lol) For a item that is, sadly, no longer in production, there a considerable information to be found

I think I will retire? well no I won't but I will have a hard time founding the same quality sound and features elsewere. My fellow band mates call it the brgde of the Starship Enterprise, but 30 years giging, from Marshall plexi and JCM 800 Peavey 5150 Ampeg? (you know the one that had the key lock), Laney with a Carvin Quad 4, Hughes & Ketner Duo-tone. I,ve owned and played threw a lot of great amps but I'm staying with the 2112 and VHT until they drop dead. Then maybe I'll get a bogner or another laney?

I feel sorry for the poor slobs that left a bad review, My guess is the couldn't figure out how to use it. The 2112 is not a toy, if you expect this thing to make a Peavey back stage 40 sound good,buy a Rp50. I bought my 2112 in 1999, and you'll have to rip the 2112 out of my cold dead fingers. I run the 2112 into VHT 252 stereo tube amp into marshall 4/10 artist cabs (same sound as the 4/12 but smaller, lighter and still 30 watt celestion equiped of corse)I had a recent scare when the battery went dead and I lost my settings. I was frantic looking for something romotely equivalant to it. There isn't. The 2112 is not a plug and play preamp, it takes time and a few weeks of programing. It's the ultimate guitar preamp, no tech is needed back stage. With the solo feature no more worries about the sound man who just mist the first three mesures of your solo trying to pick up the chick at the back. No need for a second guitar player for harmony leads, tell the 2112 what key and what scale and now you can add a keyboard player. From Johny Cash to Pantera, the 2112 delivers the goods.
The 2112 is rugged, I had a overly exited fan get caught in the cabling and watch my 2212 fall off the marshall full stack. 8 years of touring and riding in the trailer from gig to gig. From burning hot summer temps to -20 blizzards in North Dakota my 2112, is still kickin hard and heavy (with the new battery and 5 hours reprograming my settings). So for those poor slobs that don't like the 2112, stick to your beringer preamp, crate amp and the garage your playing in or better yet go back to playing guitar hero!

Lynard Skynard, Eagles, 38 Special, Cars, Duran Duran, Boston, Cheap trick, Forigner,Pantera, Megadeth, Reo and everything in between the 2112 has not disapointed. it takes some effort but with the two types of distortion (real tube and solid that is blendable) I can sounds like Golden earing or Ozzy. (Zak or Randy)

Giong on Ten years with the 2112. It's a tank

Manual is downloadable if you lose it. Upgrade is easy to do yourself and Digitech will direct you to a qualified repair shop (The battery Scare lol) For a item that is, sadly, no longer in production, there a considerable information to be found

I think I will retire? well no I won't but I will have a hard time founding the same quality sound and features elsewere. My fellow band mates call it the brgde of the Starship Enterprise, but 30 years giging, from Marshall plexi and JCM 800 Peavey 5150 Ampeg? (you know the one that had the key lock), Laney with a Carvin Quad 4, Hughes & Ketner Duo-tone. I,ve owned and played threw a lot of great amps but I'm staying with the 2112 and VHT until they drop dead. Then maybe I'll get a bogner or another laney?

Complicated if you are an idiot, but just like any other do it all machine, there is a learning curve-read the manual! I owned the 2101 before this and found it maybe harder to use but could make the 2101 do just what I wanted but not so much with this one.

As stated before, I owned the 2101 when it first came out and thought it was great but not perfect. I was able to do some really cool channel switching with it. I Did the "quit playing thing for a few years" then got back into it. My second time around I went the all tube head route, Marshall(some of the best ones), Laney, Peavey, etc. I also used a Marshall JMP-1 and even had a short stint with a ADA MP-1(crap!). Out of curiosity I picked up one of these 2112's too see how it matched up. Well, it didn't come even close! Either the 2101 sounds much better(from my memory) than the 2112 or my ears have changed over the years. The 2112 to me has the most sterile lifeless sound for a tube preamp that I have ever heard. If you like boatloads of uninspiring fx and a weak distortion tone than you may like this thing. To be fair a few of the clean tones were usable. BTW, I thought this model was much harder to use and less editable than the original 2101. The "dual path" thing is a joke. I am more of a tube purist but I would rather play thru one of those cheap modeling bean shaped things then this 2112.

This preamp reigns winner as the piece of gear that I owned for the shortest period of time.

The worst thing about this compared to the original 2101 is that you can't really even use it as an fx processor and bypass the crappy preamp. Spend your hard earned cash elsewhere this is not worth it at any price.

I've had this unit new since the day it came out, and would'nt trade it for anything. I bought the 1st one shipped to Colorado. It does take some time to get used to setting it up, but once you figure that out, you got it made.

I run a Jackson/Ibanez-2112-Carvin HT 150 Solid State-2 Carvin British 2x12's. I like the idea of running it through tube power, and may try that soon, as it does sound a bit fake on higher leads. Overall I really like the sound.

I giged with it early, but not in about 7 years, and it's never shit on me once.

I've been playing a total of 33 years. I'm a metal head all the way, and while it could have a bit more crunch, it may not all be it's fault. With a solid state amp like mine, and 2x12's instead of one 4x12, I'm a bit limited in how much bass I can put in the mix.

Well ease of use depends on you. I find it pretty easy havin worked in studios and on stages part time for about ten years now, but I definately had a few teething problems with this beast and was ready to smash something hehe! The manual is written fairly comprehensively but not as good as rocktrons which are excellent but anyway.

Currently my setup is an Ibanez Voyager/Carvin DC127c/LTD KH202 guitars straight into the 2112 into a Carvin TS100 poweramp into a Marshall 1960a Quad.
I play just about anything, but metal flows in my veins and this is capable of just about every concievable heavy sound youd ever need.
Most(all actually) of the heavy sounds programed into the unit are absolute shite if you ask me but once you find the right distortion there is enough eq's to nail any tone. Ive got rhythm sounds almost exactly like dimebag and dave mustaine, leads like vai and petrucci etc.. and the clean sounds are pretty damn amazing too depending on the guitar used, definately not a fender twin but a twin cant do nearly as much. The effects i find great, but I mostly only use reverbs, delays and chorus. Ive tried out all the weird stuff and it can definately go way fukn crazy., Wah is pretty crap, harmonizer passes for live gigs but not recordings, dont fancy the gate much bit too choppy at the level I need. Overall I love the sound, this thing can do anything. My only gripe is the delay when switching patches and that the continous controller doesnt automatically sense its position.

Well I hope I can depend on it! I play drums in a band also and its hard to afford the gear on my crummy wage let alone backups!
No problems so far(approx 1 year, unit must be about 7-8y.o!), the odd crackling sound, but i think this may just be bad power sources as it only happens in some places and not others, need a furman in my rack.

Well in australia we deal with a distributor (cmi) that ive used for other gear and theyre cool(mostly)

I bought this cause my fav band uses em (ALARUM- fantastic aussie death/prog band) thats pretty gay I know but they just sound brilliant and now so do I hehe! I really want to get the 2120 upgrade eprom off ebay hopefully this will fix the switching delay etc.. im not sure.
If this ever died/lost/stolen Id buy a randall rm-4 tube preamp and a tc elec or lexicon fx processor. The digitech is really really great but sometimes i find it just a tiny bit too synthetic sounding especially for bluesy hendrix type stuff.
Control one pedal is also great but not all that tuff.

First: bought this off Ebay about a month ago for $365, including the Control One floorboard. I consider this to have been one of the greatest values I've ever gotten, musical gear-wise (the other being a Korg SDD 3000 for $200).

Rated 7: This is not the absolute most simple processor to use. It is fairly complicated in the options it allows, but I appreciate that. So many processors are only willing to allow you limited control of effects, while this one pretty much gives you full access. It takes a bit of fiddling to figure it out, though. When you do, watch out. The sounds that come out of this are, in my opinion, fantastic. Even the wah, which some people seem not to like, sounds fine when mixed in with the other effects properly. Distortion is above board in every way (tube and solid state), the delay options are great, and the various configurations for effects (based on memory allocation) mean that you can get pretty much any sound you want out of this. The only thing I wish it had was the ability to run two or more different patches at the same time, but that's what you buy other processors for.

Rated 8: Editing patches is easy. The factory presets are a little heavily weighted toward distorted, overdriven sounds, but there're some fantastic ones in there (a remarkable synth sound, for example). Even the great patches typically need some modification to fit my needs, but they're not hard to change at all.

Rated 5 (for size/completeness, mostly): Manual is okay, but I really haven't used it that much. I read through it twice when I got the unit, to get an idea for how it was set up (the unit). It helped me to figure out the best way to configure patches, set up effects chains, etc. But it's not like a 2112 bible - if it was going to be the complete guide, it would have to be about eight times as thick, and who'd read it, then?

Unrated: Recently inquired of Digitech about the possibility of scoring a 2120 upgrade chip. Haven't heard anything back, but if I don't, I'll probably go ahead and pick on up off Ebay or something.

Rated 9: I use a Gibson Epiphone Sheraton II (my first guitar), a G&L ASAT Classic, a Heritage 140 CM, or my solid-body Schwab 5-string electric mandolin through this, into a Randall RT-30 class A amp (not great, but not bad, either). The thing I like most about this processor is that the strengths and weaknesses of each guitar are readily apparent in the sound quality. The single coils of the ASAT or the doubles on the Heritage are very noticeable, but considering that I use the guitars for different sounds, that's appropriate.

Rated 7: There *is* a bit of a hum at times, but this is to be expected. I haven't ferreted out whether it's for certain that it's the unit, or my amp. It may very well be the amp, which I've had problems with lately.

Rated 9: Effects are fantastic. Distortion, delay, chorus, pitch shift, even wah, all sound damn good. I can't complain...

As I said before, I'm running this through a Randall RT-30 tube, an amp that's a sort of low-budget alternative to a Vox AC 30 in sound. It's got two channels (clean and "dirty") and both sound great with the 2112 running through them.

I try to play more original stuff than covers, but always seem to come back around to the style of U2. This unit is decent in replicating certain sounds, and actually has been used by Edge for its distortion (Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me), but more than just this unit would be required to really nail the tone. But since I'm not the Edge, getting close is good enough, and I can do that with the 2112.

Haven't had it on the road yet, so I can say for sure that I could or couldn't depend on it. However, it seems to behave itself to the extent that I would feel comfortable gigging with it.

As to whether or not I'd use a backup - it would depend on the situation, I suppose. It would be nice to have one around just in case, but I wouldn't anticipate any real problems.

Dealt with them once over email, got a quick response. Digitech's customer service is pretty highly thought of, and I have no reason to go against that.

I play pretty much any style, so a multi-effects processor was a necessity to me. Prior to this one, I was using a cheap Boss ME8 I picked up a few years back, and although the sounds that come out of it are all right, I wanted something with better distortion and more possibilities for modding my sound. I considered a Line 6 Pod Pro, a Boxx GX 700, a Yamaha SPX 90 (still might get one of these), and a Korg A3 before finally deciding on this. I'm pleased with it, although I may try for the others mentioned sometime in the future.

I've owned a guitar for over ten years, and played off an on during that time, but never really got into it until about five years ago.

Aside from what I've mentioned, gear-wise, the only other things I own are an acoustic guitar and a custom-built acoustic mandolin. Neither is applicable here...

As I said before, I wish the unit had some way of running multiple patches simultaneously. I suppose it does, in some ways, allow that by running different chains, but I'd really like to use the synth effect at a low level in combination with some overdriven delay/chorus, and haven't yet figured out how to do that.

It definitely helps with "making music," as the question says. Some songs need a certain sound to form in your mind - I've gotten more than a few ideas by simply scrolling through the presets and fiddling with the guitar a bit.

"How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?" well, compared to turning on a tube amp and turning the volume up to "10" it's not nearly as easy to get a good, warm sound but that's to be expected with the nature of the unit. The first step to getting a great, amplike sound (yes it's in there) is going into "Edit Mode" and scroll to the "Master Mix" section, and you'll probably notice if you're working from a factory preset that the Wed/Dry ratio (the precentage of the signal that is routed through the digital effects section as opposed to just going through the analog preamp section) will be at 100% digital. Roll that off to about 15-20% Digital (maybe more for a lead or clean patch) and you'll start to get good preamp tones.

Editing patches is fairly easy, especially compared to this unit's forerunner, the GSP 2101. The interface is much more user friendly. This unit, unlike many others, has not been upgraded to the 2120, an upgrade which is purely software (it adds a bunch of artist-created patches). Whatever headaches I might get programming, it makes up for in creative possibilites and features.

I use it with an Ibanez RG421 (fixed bridge), Ibanez RG7321 (7-string fixed bridge) into the 2112 and then into both sides (stereo) of my Mosvalve 962 power amp. I use it in the "stereo" output mode but since only a few of my presets utilize stereo it doesn't make much of a difference on my main rhythms and leads. The stereo configuration does enable me to pan harmonies left/right so the different notes will be coming out of different cabs and gives it a much more realistic harmony sound. It is noisy without the gate... but fortunately the gate works very well. All of the effects are great, but some of the modulation effects (like phaser or flange) have a more modern sound - you're not gonna get a vintage Pink Floyd phaser sound out of it (part of that lies in the fact that the mod effects are after the preamp in the signal chain, whereas 70's bands were running pedals in front of the amp... not something I suggest doing with the 2112). The analog delay is great, the harmonizer is great. You can get any sound out of this if you have the patience. With the possibility of 3 separate EQ stages, tube or SS distortion paths I'm confident with enough tweaking I could get any sound.

Seems reliable so far. I always have my J-station around if I need a backup. Haven't had it long enough to really say.

Great Customer support with Digitech/Johnson always.

I play and gig regularly in a progressive Metal band (Profane Oath). I've been playing for 9 years and I have owned every piece of gear imaginable from Fender tube amps, Marshall JCM900, Mesa triple recto, Carvin Legacy, but nothing I've used approaches the flexibility and creative possibilities I have with rack setups, and this is a great piece of rack gear. All you need is this and a power amp.

I wish it had a specific manual for this model. While it is nearly identical to 2120, there are a few functions that need to be performed differently, one of which is changing the effects module configurations which I had to call Digitech to figure out how to do. There was a manual for it, but it is not available online and Digitech just tells you to use the 2120 manual. While that works mostly, there are slight differences.

This unit needs some tweeking to really get a good breakthrew cut threw the mix tone...but it is very easy to use if you know what you are doing. There are somethings about this unit that i dont even know about yet....there are so many features and tones possible.The manual will help you get familiar with the knobs and shit... but its pritty weak and sometimes repetes thing over on later pages...Soem useful tips are provided. My unit was currently upgraded to a 2120...yeaaa!!!

the sound rocks...iam using gibson les paul std 2000-->2112/2120 w/mesa tubes-->bbe 362 sonic maximizer---> mesa boogie 50/50 power--->marshall 4x12 and 2 celestion vintage 30s. Disk processing is quick and effects sound great...it is also nice that this unit can be used to produce layers of effects as well as a speaker emulator a million diff eqs lots of distortion types solid state and tube. You can pritty much get any tone possible ...Godsmack...deftones...ramones...clash...311..funk jazz...bad brains type versatility everything in music...nice sounds all around...one flaw is that the clean channels are weak they dont have enough beef and character like my old fender dual showman head....i dunnomaybe its me

the only thing about this product i dont trust is all the digital stuff in it...bad power can equal destruction of amplifier...ive had it happen to me with my johnson millenium and im sure it can happen to this device too. but plug the unit into a safe power supply or get a conditioner. i would gig with a back up if i didnt have stuff to protect my digital 2112. But yes i would use with out a back up if protected

no not yet...ive delt with johnson amplification which is a division of digitech on the millenium with is very similar to the 2112....they have been really good so far... and they are right on top of stuff asap.

I play punk rock, 77 style, the clash, 311 funk grassroots,transistor albums, godsmack, deftones, ramones, red hot chilli peppers, metal, hardcore, i have been playing close to 10 years now and ive owned crate products...marshall heads, fender heads,fender cabs, fender strats, fender teles, fender mustangs,p basses....epiphone les pauls and a gibson les paul. Ive also owned a line 6 pod as well as os2 boss and the boss turbo distortion...pro co distortions..the list goes on and on.....i would buy this product again but they are hard to find cause they are now discontinued...But the mesa triaxis and those rectifiers have some klutch tones! I love the amps versitility, i can switch from one sound to the next so easily.Every thing sounds good too, whether you like solid state or tube you choose....i dont hate anything yet...i want more saturation and less chunk...but a sonic maximizer may help...johnson millenium is very similar to this product as well as the 2120 and the 2101. i wishthis unit had more tube tones...more beef like a fender....and authentic or a channel for rectifier tube saturation. If covers are your thing...this is it!...creating new music on this thing is great too...come up with soem really phat tones.

I was already addicted to programmable gears and specially to digitech gears, when I bought it. It seems to be hard to use at first, but if you keep faith for a few days, than you discover how similar to old analog pedals is..

I've got a standard strat and a rickenbacker 330/6, 2 vintage vox AC30. You can use factory settings to trick: they sound astonishing good!!! You can really change your basic sound if you are able with the eqs but you know, good eqs are very hard to use...
If you play in a band making a lot of different cover in live situations, 2112 (or 2120) it's for you. I've played thru it a lot, and I'd give it a 9 (even if wah is not that good and I never use 2 of the 4 solid state distortions)...but I've changed my mind!!! If I put my guit jack directly in my amps the sound is wonderful, and the 2112 between, changes it: no noise, but a change of the basic sound, even bypassing the tubes and the distortions. This preamp is a kind of a nasty boy...that I don't always like..

Once or twice it stopped working while I was changing presets..I bypassed it and then it started working well again

I'm not a session man, I make my own music which is close to vintage '60ies sound (from Beatles to Jimi Hendrix) and modern pop rock (U2, Oasis, REM and things like that) I also like to discover new sounds tricking with knobs. I play since I was about 10, now I'm 27, I've worked with a lot of programmable equipments, so I can say a Digitech 2112 can due a lot to a certain kind of guitar player, first of all because it's well built (forget those mid '90ies units like art, zoom and so on...), then for the useful factory presets; anyway I'm gonna sell it for some stomp boxes. I want a mountain of stomp boxes to use 2 or 3 of them at a time with the help of a patch mate!!!!! I told you I have two old AC30: is my basic sound good enough?!

It's easy to use but not very easy to get good sounds. But if you take the time then you can make some great sounds, it's just a matter of having patience and it will pay off.

Editing is easy compared to other units I've used. There is a button assigned to each effect (modulation, reverb, preamp, etc) and you just press it to edit it. The ease of use is because of the visual representation of whats happening. You can see the effects chain from the guitar to the outputs.
The manual was fine for me, although it was poorly printed (photocopied?) and bound. You would think for the amount of money you were spending it would have a decent quality manual. My only gripe would be it seems to have missed information on the pre-delay effect.

this is my setup: esp ltd 307 with emg 707s>digitech 2112>marshall 9100>marshall 1932 cab

Initially I used the 2112 through various effects loops of solid state amps. I was pleased with the sound but not estatic, overall I thought it was tinny sounding and preferred the sound of my pod.

Just recently I decided to take a sonic step up and buy a tube poweramp to see how much difference it would make. Well now the 2112 has gone from gathering dust to my main unit and now the pod has been relagated to the back benches. The tube powerstage makes SO much difference, to do this unit justice you have to give it a good powerstage to go through. It makes a HUGE difference. I'm playing the guitar much more than I used to and enjoying the sound I'm getting.

I also did an a/b comparison with a roland gp-100 and although I liked the effects of the gp-100 the 2112 kicked its ass on the distortion front. It had more punch and cut through, the roland unit had a good sound on its own but when I compared it to the 2112 it just sounded dull and lifeless. As for the effects, I found I could get the 2112 comparable with the gp-100 with alot of tweeking.

never had a problem with the unit. But I don't gig so I guess that doesn't really count

I've e-mailed digetech a couple of times about ugrades and programming help and they've always got back to me within a couple of days.

I think this is a good unit that seems to have been overlooked by a lot of people. Digitech also have stopped making them, and have stopped making any high quality rack units, A trend I've noticed with other companies as well. Most of the companies seem to be focusing on cheap floor based products which sucks for rack fans.

I've been playing for about 7 years, mostly I play metal (emperor, dimmu borgir, morbid angel, etc, etc) and with the 2112 I can get a variety of diverse, great distortions. I've also tried a marshall jmp1, roland gp100 (see above), and a boss gfx-700, and I prefer the 2112 over all of them because of the huge depth of editing and the overall sound.

I wish it had:
stereo effects loop
headphone jack
more gain (it has enough but sometimes you want insane amounts)

Overall I think the 2112 is a great bang for your buck buy. One thing you do have to keep in mind is that you have to spend time to get good sounds with the unit and you HAVE to have a decent powerstage to run it through. If it were stolen I probably look at other rack gear (I'm a sucker for new stuff) but the only other similar unit available in New Zealand is the mesa tri-axis which I haven't tried, costs four times as much, and doesn't have effects.