DigiTech 2120 VGS Artist

If this were your first preamp/effects unit your in for a steep learning curve but once you give up trying to figure it out by pushing random buttons and you actually READ the manual, it's a piece of cake. As for editing effects it's as easy or hard as you make it. The presets aren't all practical but theres a few nice ones there that you can just tweak to your tastes then copy them to where you want them, or just turn everything off and build your sounds from scratch. It's great to be able to assign each effect to a pedal aswell so you can have your ideal sound and then add mod,delays,pitchshifts and all sorts while you are performing.

I've had this unit for ages...it's been used with Patrick Eggle ProV, Ibanez rt650, Ibanez s470dxqm, Jackson Dinky,Charvel 375dx and a few i've forgotten. For some time I was lucky enough to own a top end Laney 100w head going through twin 140w cabs and during that time it was only used for the effects section as the preamping on the head was better but these days it's running stereo through the return jacks of a couple of Laney 50 combo's. The only stick bits in terms of the units effects are in my opinion the wah and noise gate. Extenious noise simply doesn't exist and the output is crystal clear. I haven't found a unit that really lets the tonality of the guitar come through (regardless of how many effects) like this. The guitar's "voice" still comes through. It gets really interesting when you start assembling effect chains so that you get one chain to the left and one to the right.

7 years ago....my dog got caught up in my cables and puled the unit from the top of a 5ft stack of gear. The rack mount on one side is bent about 1.5cm back but the unit STILL lives! It has never let me down....
Verdict:
WELL SOLID

n/a

I've had this thing longer than i can remember and now i'm thinking about changing....but in all honesty I can't find anything like the quality and versatility. Others, including so called "cutting edge" floor mounted flagship units sound muddy and synthetic by comparison.
It's versatility is endless and this is both a blessing and a curse....beware...you may find yourself spending more time mucking about with finding the illusive "perfect sound" that we all crave than actually playing your guitar.

I'll begin by stating that I've no newcomer when it comes to preamps. I've owned the 2112 since it originally came out and I've just recently updated the units firmware to the 2120's. I've played out of just about every preamp out there including the MesaBoogie Triaxis, and for all the flexability the 2120 allows, it's going to take time with the unit to fully understand what it's capabale of.

The 2120's preset patches are not to my liking, but they give the user a framework to begin from. The 2120 is capabale of MUCH better sounds than what is preprogammed.

I'm going to rate ease of use an 8 because although it's not instantly gratifying, you can't expect a unit that is capable of so much to be extremely easy to get what you want from it instantly. It's worth the time invested because if you take your time, this unit is capable of just about any sound.

I currently use an Ibanez UV777 Jem 7 string and an Ibanez S-series Prestige 6 string. I run the 2120 through a MesaBoogie 20/20 tube poweramp, BBE sonic maximizer, out to a 4X12 CRATE cabinet.

PREAMP:

I've struggled with this unit for years because I've been on the verge of the tone I wanted but I always felt the unit's preamp section was simply lacking the gain I expected. I'm writing this review because I want anyone reading this to learn from my mistake. For years, I've replaced the tubes in the preamp with 12AX7 Groove Tubes from my local music store. I'm usually lucky if they even have them. After purchasing the MesaBoogie poweramp, I looked into replacing the tubes with some of the best quality tubes I could find. I ended up purchasing JJ/TESLA 12ax7 tubes for both the 2120 and the Mesa Boogie poweramp. Now learn from my mistake...

THE SOUND IS COMPLETLY RELIANT ON THE TYPE OF TUBE YOU USE!!!

Needless to say, I have all the gain and tone I could ever want now! And I did not think it was possible for the 2120 to achieve THAT much gain! I had patches that rivaled Mesa Dual Rectifiers before the tube change and now I think I'll need to back it off. Pateniently tweaking the compressor, gain, and tube EQ, you can attain just about any tube distortion sound imaginable.

EFFECTS:

As for the effects in the 2120, they are top notch. I have NO complaints with the digital effects whatsoever. I owned an Eventide H3000 and sold it because I ended up using the 2120's effects instead since everything is integrated. Just make sure to use the full S disk/s and appropriate effect whenever possible. The flexability of the digital effects is amazing because you can choose to use more or less processing power for a more complex effect or keep it simple to allow more effects. I have a difficult time deciding to use a detue, dual detune, quad detune, flanger, dual flanger, quad flanger, chorus, dual chorus, octal chorus to achieve the desired chorus effect! Getting the idea here? THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!!

For you harmony guys, here's a hint. If you're running stereo, you'll want to use a full S disk with the harmony effect, and send your dry signal panned to 1 speaker and the digital effect to the opposite speaker. Normally I need to reduce the harmonized note's volume A LOT! If tweaked correclty, you'll be amazed at the sound the harmonizer can attain. Always shift down unless you're from mars.

Get yourself a Crybaby because you won't be using the internal wah, but I very rarely use my Crybaby anyway, and how many units include a wha?

I've had the unit for a really long time and I've had the unit freak out on me and I've had to reset the unit. Since that one time, the unit's been perfect. I've traveled to from NY to Florida and back with it in an SKB case and the unit was perfect when it got home.

The only time I've needed help was when the unit freaked out on me. I called technical support and they walked me through the factory recall and everything was great again!

PERFECT!

Comparitively, this unit is easier to use than the previous 2101 model, but in many ways, the 2101 could do more (e.g., you could have more than two parallel paths) but those added options probably made people complain to the company of the complexity. Ease of use is not my main concern for this reason, as I prefer to have the extra options. One could say, the easier something like this is to use, the less one can experiment in making new sounds. The manual is decently written, and I haven't had any major problems doing anything as described in the manual. Therefore, for all the complexity this unit still does have, it is pretty darned easy to use.

I'm running this as a preamp into the power amp section of my Fender Twin combo. I have not used this direct, as I prefer to mike the amp. The main guitars I use this with are a Gretsch Duo Jet, an Epiphone WildKat with P90s and a Danelectro U2 with lipstick pickups. Overall, I would list most of the effects on this unit as excellent. The weaker ones would be the analog wah (which is still far better than the digital one on the 2101) which has been corrected to be in front of the distortion, and the phaser, which is not as good as an analog one. The main problems with the wah, are: 1) the lack of dramatic sweep (making the "wah" sound) as the band pass goes from the low mids to high, which is somewhat satisfactorily remedied by a wide and high midrange eq boost (but still no Crybaby), and 2) that when the digital controls are customized, the pedal does not work within the range set for the whole sweep of the pedal, but is only engaged to change when the pedal itself moves through the customized range. The preamp section is pretty good, and I do have some complaints/suggestions that will follow. First, I've read a lot of stupid comments from goth and thrash players that this unit is fine for "Fender players," but not heavy enough for their kind of music. First, I do find that the "saturated" tube setting does have a lot of gain, perhaps not quite as much as a rectifier, but probably as much as most tube amps, including Marshalls. The solid state "grunge" setting actually has more gain, if one does not demand a tube setting. The solid state gain may actually be better for the quick stops in thrash because of the mechanical resonance that tubes have. Then again, thrash players usually use so much noise gating, that it probably wouldn't be an issue. Usually, these goth/thrash whiners use so much gain and just scoop out the mids so much that one can no longer hear the sound of the guitar, per se, as the sound has been so saturated with effects (gain). This sound of course, has its uses, but is it really criteria that should be used to judge a unit? Anyway, my problems with the preamp section are these: 1) there are three (4 if you include the bypass setting, which still uses the tubes, but gives you no distortion) tube settings, for different degrees of distortion. This, I imagine is to maintain a decent amount of volume through all the disparate amounts of gain, but there seems to be a gap of missing gain levels between the three main distortion settings that one would normally find on an amp as one would raise the gain knob from 1 to 10; almost as if the first distortion setting would be 1-3, then 4 is missing, 5-7 would be the second, 8 would be missing and 9-10 would be the last distortion option. Second, I wish there was the option (as on the 2101) to have a dry analog signal stay analog, to be mixed with a wet/digital. Everything on this unit goes through the A/D and D/A converters, which is a shame, though the tone is pretty good for digital on this unit. Third, I wish the parametric EQ was before the gain circuit like a real amp's as EQ does sound different when before the gain. Also, it would be better if that parametric EQ could have the Q and frequency center changed so one could model different,real amps. Or, to be even more realistic (like the Fender Cyber series), have the parametric EQs' zero settings have no output like a real amp, rather than start with a flat signal. My last complaint about the unit is that the output is kind of low compared to a regular amp's preamp section. My volume is much lower with this unit than using the combo amp's own preamp. One has to keep in mind that the volume is controlled in so many places on this unit, in order to maintain a decent level (trim, preamp analog section, digital section, master, digital pedal volume and at least one level control in each effect module). The best effects in the unit are the reverbs (one

I've had my unit for about 4 years and the LCD went out on my once and the parametric EQ knobs' pots had to be replaced, but so far, that has been the only issue. For 4 years of use, perhaps this is acceptable for any complicated electronic equipment. Have you had any computers go 4 years without any work needed?

Only support I ever needed was locating an authorized repair shop which was easily done online.

I play all styles of music (even stupid Goth and Thrash) and I can use this unit for all of those styles, except acoustic classical, obviously. I have been playing for 20 years. I would buy an improved similar unit from Digitech, if they made improvements (hopefully mine) but in the current market, everything appears to be digital modeling and footpedals, so it is not likely. I've tried the VOX Valvestate emulators and I think the Fender sounds are not quite right (esp. the Bassman), though they've modeled their own sounds quite well. But VOXes don't have that wonderful Fender 2.5kHz ring, do they? The Fender Cyber Twin sounds pretty good, but the effects are not as good as on this unit. Anyway, this unit is overall, as good as anything else out there, and better than most, if you learn about effects and learn how to use the thing.

This is an update of my previous review, just to show one of 2120 hidden features.
I found one interesting feature which I believe worth enough to share with 2120 owners.
I really don?t like to push another footswitch just to activate the wah pedal, which means I have to move my foot twice, first the dedicated footswitch and then to the pedal. What a pain in the ****, especialy if I want to go from non wah licks to wah licks seamlessly. I?ve tried to find some information on the net about this, but no luck. The information I found is only about assigning a dedicated footswitch to activate the wah pedal.
After doing some experiments I found a way to solve this problem. Now I can turn on the wah just by rocking the pedal, no need to push dedicated footswitch, of course I still need a dedicated footswitch to turn it off but it?s ok for me.
Wow, this is very helpful, I can quickly turn on the wah pedal without having to find the dedicated footswitch first and then push it, just rock the pedal, so I can concentrate on my licks, instead of looking for a footswitch.
Here is how :
1. Activate the patch you want to add wah fx,
2. If the pedal on that patch is assigned to function(s) other than wah (if it?s already assigned as wah go to step 4), disable it by pushing assign button twice and then with page knob scroll until the display show pedal function and turn the 1st knob to deactivate the pedal.
3. push the preamp button, scroll to wah menu, and put the cursor on wah position parameter by turning the 2nd knob, then push the assign button once, the display should read select a contrl footswitch. Rock the pedal until the display change.
4. Push the ?Preamp? button, and scroll to wah menu, and put the cursor on ?byp/on? parameter.
5. Push the ?Assign? button once and rock the pedal, then on the 2120 display change the ?min? parameter to ?on? (by turning the 3rd knob) so both min and max parameter have ?on? value. And then go to the next page by turning the page knob, the display should read ?available link for wah?.
6. Push a footswitch on controll one where you want to assign the on/off function for wah. And on the 2120 display make sure the min parameter is ?byp? and max parameter is ?on?. Push the footswitch again to bypass the wah and then save your patch.
7. That?s it, every time you call the patch, the wah status is bypassed, and when you rock the pedal the wah will be activated automatically. If you want to turn it off just push the dedicated footswitch.

Mine is not new, 2.10 version software. yes, it's very easy to get good sounds, i can get good sound just from the default preamp. editing patches is very easy, and the RPEdit make it easier. I'm using the RPedit to back up all my settings, just in case the program crashed. Once you understand how the program works you will rarely use the RPEdit.
no manual included, download it from digitech website. the manual is not very helpful, but can prevent you from getting lost.

My setup : Ibanez Jem7vwh---shure wireless--2120 with JMP1 and G Major in the fx Loop---return in jack of two solid state heads---two 4x12 celestion cabs.
noisy? it has very versatile noise gate, you can put it before or after the preamp section. I prefer after preamp, because that way I can still produce smooth volume swell.
First class fx, but g major has better tracking for pitch shifting and whammy fx.
I can get any kind of sound I can think of. petrucci, satriani, vai, eric johnson, brian may, and of course my sound. but for marshall sound I use the JMP1.
imagine this, with my setup I can closed the loop, activate the tube preamp, tube Eq, and delay, shut the chorus off just by pushing one button. so i can go from marshall clean from my jmp with some chorus from 2120 to saturated tube sound from 2120 with delay and without chorus.
you know what.. you can use 8 pitch fx in a row if you want to....

it only crashed when I edit it with RPEdit, especialy when making patch with config 16. dont have enough money to buy back up equipment.

I once emailed them asking how to change the voltage, they replied my email in a second, and now I can use mine without a stepdown.

overall this is the best gear I've ever owned, this is a dream come true. no regret at all. don't like the preamp? bypass them and put it on the loop of your favourite amp, or put your favorite preamp rack in 2120 loop and you'll be in heaven.

Being a complete gear freak, I found that this unit is pretty easy to program. However, as extensive as the editing capabilities are -- there are a huge amount of parameters to access. With that said, it can be pretty sticky when trying to quickly dial up a sound.

My rig consists of: US custom Strats, DBX compressor, BBE, Shure wireless, Mesa Boogie V-Twin rack tube preamp, and a handful of external f/x rack units (Yamaha SPX-90, Korg A3, TC Electronics 2290 Delay) -- powered by a MesaBoogie 2:90 Tube Power Amp, into a stereo Marshall 4x12.
First off -- the noise gate is set to "crapola" iin all the factory settings, but with some tweaking is manageable if only slightly applied. The Wah is unusable (in my opinion) -- I prefer my modified Vox Wah. The compressor is usable, however, I prefer my DBX. The distortions are decent emulations, but that's exactly what they are --> Emulations. I prefer a true tube amp.
As for the palette of sounds this unit is capable, I'm still stunned. I actually bought this unit to use a particular sound (The volume swell, keyboard-ish pad) -- but quickly found myself in a sea of aural colors. This unit is incredible. With only a few days with the unit, I bypassed my SPX-90 and A3 and use the 2120 exclusively for my effects (sans compression). This unit is extremely quiet and powerful.
Two things I like the most about the unit are: 1) The ability to use my Boogie Preamp by inputting it in the F/X loop in fron to of the signal processing -- allowing me to control my Boogie Pre with the 2120. This allows me to mute for tuning, use the volume pedal on the Control One, and 2) Utilize the "SOLO" function! This absolutely makes the investment completely worthwhile.

I've had several small issues, but nothing severe enough to have it repaired ... yet. But it does seem a bit more fragile than my other rack gear. I've had it reset during shows -- but that was, in the end, due to the cadmium battery getting low.

N/A -- haven't dealt with them yet.

Even with my minor complaints, I'd highly recommend this unit to any musician who wants Grade-A signal processing. I agree with others listed here about changes that could be made -- and sincerely hope that Digitech continues to upgrage this model.

The First day i got this unit I started dialing in sounds.. and as a gear and tweaking fanatic.. it was pretty easy to me.
the possibilities are really endless, but the basic interface and tweaking system can be easily figured out after a few hours of use for expirienced digital FX users, or for sound engineers (as myself).
though it will be hell for stomp-box users who buys their first rack.

My current setup is an Ibanez PGM300 Prototype, and a Fender USA Standart Stratocaster >>> Nady 201VHF True Diversity Wireless system >>> 2120 (FX loop send to DOD YJM308 to Marshall JCM800 Halfstack) >>>> Peavey EQ31 Graphic Equalizer Rack >>>> BBE 462 Sonic Maximizer >>>> Alto BK2.0 Comp/limiter/gate >>>> Another 2 Marshall JCM800 Halfstacks.
The unit Sounds AMAZING! The Dual Distortion Path Routing is the best feature in the preamp section, switched the stock tubes with JJ Teslas - sounds much better with them (recommended!), The compressor is quite good - though I use an external one too, The Noise gate is great, very versatile, giving you a complete control with all it's parameters, the wah is so-so, but I'm not a heavy Wah user so it doesn't bother me much, The digital effects sounds awesome!
20Hz-20Khz range.. just great.. if you haven't tried it in stereo you don't know what you are missing..

I was using a Boss GT-5 before the 2120 and it sounds like someone have removed the earplugs that have been stuck in my ears from all the years of using the Boss.

The very first distortion patch that I jhave programmed sounds JUST like the Rhythm sound in Megadeth's Youthanasia! which is a difficullt sound to get.
The Korn Patch is also awesome if you tweak it right - but great as basis.

assigning parameters to the control1 is very easy and useful - working very good.
Clear LED displays in both 2120 and It's Control Board - it also enables the feature of real-time effects morphing which is really really cool. the harmonizer sounds pretty good when on full disc - It's not an Eventide but really does the job for that price range.

I play mostly Metal in the neoclassic. power and progressive vein - and it delivers the goods just Perfectly for me.

I am actually running 2 preamps in serial - the 2120 to the low input of the Marshalls - sounds fantastic if configured propertly.

The noise factor of the unit is quite low compared to the others i have used. the sonic maximizer complements the 2120 tone even more! I highly recommend getting one

no problems so far.

haven't dealt with them yet.

Great for Metal, and for everything else too I guess..
you can get about any sound you want if you try hard enough.
I have been playing for 6 years now.
Currently I own a Boss GT-5 too, but It's for sale now.
the other active gear is listed above.
If it was stolen i would definately get one again if i'd find one (here in Israel this kind of stuff is pretty hard to find)
as stated in other reviews, It's very musical and i have found it very inspiring for me.

if you had hesistants and you're out for a pro-level tool - go get one!

pre sets arent usable other than a few although they are great foundations to build on and in a few mins you can have some fantastic sounds

using either my limited fender squire, the original not the cheessy mexican strat look alikes, this oen is all custom with emg's and schallers lockers etc.. or my 93 les paul studio.
i run a mesa 2:90 stereo power amo, a furman power conditioner, a 482 i think, sonic maximizer and two 1960 b 300 watt 4x12 marshall cabs, the sound is awesome!
my buddy brought his 2112 and his mesa stack over which he powers with a cheaper power amp and there wast much difference, in deep shunk he had me a little bit, but still even he admitted my setup sounds unreal.

had one issue turned out to be a cable, i want to get another one for backup in case the worst ever happens, but so far i dont even take a backup to the gigs and ive been ok.

simply the best ive ever seen.

i bought my unit on ebay used for 500$ with the control one.
i had a bad midi foot controller cable but to be safe i sent the whole unit and foot board into digitech for a once over, they advised me of the flat rate to look at and or fix the 2120 artist and the foot controller so i sent them the approriate amount of money for updating, and servicing both units.

my concern was the turn around becasue it was 7 days to get it there, (Utah) and if they kept it more than 5 days i would not get it back in time for a performance.
well i stressed this point with Rick on the phone from harmony music group digitech service section.
they recieved my unit on a monday, i was told originaly that they would have it for 7 days before sending it out.

on tuesday i got a pone call from there tech, told me he replaced a footswitch, a jack updated the unit and tested everything, saved all my presets and told me that i sent to much money.

they do not do refunds and i made out money orders to them, so i said well then apply the money to the return shipping and get it here asap then.
the next day, weds, it arrived at my house, this was a 350$ shipping rate when i checked 3 times, they got it all back, included a new cable, and a digitech t-shirt!!
having it back and knowing it was up to date and running properly were my concerns and digitech treated me like i was a famous rock star without ever thinking twice about it, simply awesome, i would do a commercial for them after this.

i love it, i compared it to many other pre amps and combos and nothing sounds as good to me as this set up, i have been playing for 20 years and currently i am the guitarist in an original/cover modern metal style band.

It's hard to believe I've had this for 5 years now. This is the first multi-fx/pre-amp unit I ever owned, so I was lost for a long time. It was very much like going from a Yugo to a Mercedes for me. A LOT of trial and error for the first 6 months or so. I'm not an idiot, but with 2 babies in diapers, 60 hour work weeks and a busy church schedule (where the unit is used), it was hard to find time for experimentation. Internet user group through Digitech website was very helpful. The book was useless, and still pretty much is, even after understanding the workings. RPEdit totally helped me, especially with backing everything up. It's pretty easy to edit, make, and save programs now. I got the upgrade chip free from Digitech 3 years ago and put it in myself. SAVE YOUR STUFF BEFORE YOU DO THIS! I saved everything to RPEdit first. That is a beautiful thing. Whoever created that software should be knighted.
The unit is not friendly, however, with volume levels. I've seen other comments similar to this, especially with the volume pedal on the control one tied to the program. Frequently, switching between programs the volume would drop off severely or even totally go away! And if I switched back and forth, it would come back! Gave up on that right away. I disconnected the volume assignment for all programs. I just use a boss stereo vol pedal now. It is still not easy to set equal volume levels for all programs. You set the volume, save the program, go to another program and come back, and it's not the same! So it's a lot of fooling around with a db meter and all the different instruments I use. Overall, it's better than having a bunch of stomp boxes and all that mess and setup. One box that does it all.

I play in a church worship setting. Large sanctuary, small group of musicians, like 6 on a good day, which means VERSATILITY. I have 2 JEMs, a 7D black, and the 7VBSL (for me the greatest instrument ever made). I frequently play an older Yamaha nylon with an LR baggs pickup, an Ovation 6751 12 string, a mid-grade Fender acoustic/electric, and a Fender FM-62 mando. I sometimes play a Fender fretless jazz bass with EMG pickups, but I haven't made a program for that yet (next on the list of things to do). I also blow the didgeridoo but that doesn't go through the unit. This one box really does it all.
I used to put the unit through a GK 2100SEL, and was satisfied with it. Well, that went up in smoke 2 years ago and I got a Peavey Classic 50/50 all tube head. Had to change everything! But I was blown away by the difference. I hadn't had a tube head before, just the 12ax7s in the 2120. AWESOME! I wish I had gone to tubes long ago. Now (past 6 months) we've gone to ear-monitors and no on-stage volume except drums behind a shield, so goodbye power amp, hello direct box. In-ear sound is great, but doesn't come close to reflecting what's going on in the room, so I have had to re-eq everything again and work with the sound tech real close.
As well documented, the wah is not good. I use a Crybaby and a Bad Horsie 2 (not a crybaby at all, but I love it). I run them through the FX loop and I'm satisfied. I also don't use the tuner. It's not easy to turn on and, more importantly, I get volume changes when I use it and go back to the program. I just keep a Boss TU-12 in my chain; after the 2120 but before my Boss FV-50 vol pedal. The stock noise reduction settings are also garbage, also well documented. They all got changed right away. After that however, it's beautiful. I've not had a lot of amps in the past but I am completely satisfied with what this unit does.

I currently play 3 and sometimes 4 times per week. It's never failed catastrophically. It's only locked up once that I remember, when I was MIDI connected and did something wrong or too fast. Just the issues with volume and tuner and I just avoid them. I keep saying that I should get another 2120 used, or a cheap POD or multi-pedal, but the funds and time aren't there now. Hope I don't eat my words.

They were good. Quick response to emails, like the same afternoon, but not always able to answer a question. The sponsered user group was much more helpful for simple stuff and operating questions. I got the upgrade chip free about 3 years ago. Did it myself, easy. It's never had to see warranty work, or any work.

It is definately the perfect unit for me. With all that I have to do, it does it with me.
I have been playing since '86. Power metal and thrash back then. In a worship/church setting since about '94.
I got this new at guitar center with the control one in early '99. I would certainly buy another one used if this one were to go away. At the time, the only comparable units were the ART SGE which went away, and the G force, too expensive, so this was the logical choice.
I absolutely love the versatility in this unit. There is nothing I've asked the unit to do for sounds that it cannot do. I can learn to play a song, and nail down the sound perfectly. That helps a lot when people recognize certain sounds from certain songs that get radio play and we play them in the church. It sounds like what they know and remember and they can enjoy the music and not be distracted. Ultimately, making spontaneous musical perfect moments in worship is the highest for me personally, and I can do that without worrying or even really thinking about equipment.

The day I plug it in and fired it up, I found it to be pretty easy to get the sound I needed but without a control pedal you kind have to maually turn the knob change sounds.
Editing patches are easy and clear to use but if your not into scrolling through menus or such you will have a frustrating experience. I bought mine used so i actually modified some of the previous owners sounds just to get me started. The factory presents suck big time! after you have your working patches edited and saved you will find the more time you spend tweaking with tube saturations, eq's and effects the more satisfied you will be.
You can go to the digitech website and down load the manual but to be honest, just taking the time going through menus, parameters and such will help more. The good thing about having the manual is that you can almost any possible output chains on your effects, otherwise this may confuse a person. The manual may also be helpful to those who need to program an expression pedal or midi programming. I don't know if my unit has been upgraded I have only had it for a couple of months.

I use a Gibson ES137 with a 500T pick up in the treble position and 535q wah before the 2120, I did briefly use a strat prior to the Gibson but it did not sound as rich, with a strat it was more of a softer tone-good maybe for blues or funk/R&B. I use a Peavey 50/50 tube power amp, I have found that the peavey is a good combo with 2120. the resonance knobs add to the bottom end.I output my amp into a stereo 4x12 cab with celestion 90 speakers, the crunch and bottom end is pretty good. I have used Mesa, Marshall,Fender, and Line 6 amps, the versatility of the 2120 is pretty good and I think this has a very good range of sounds and tones.It has the Marshall, Fender, Line 6 sounds down pat and it can pretty closely replicate a Mesa (but not a rectifier). My favorite sound is the old school punk sound-Sex Pistols, Ramones,GenX Etc.. but I do also enjoy Much of the etheral effected laced guitar sounds found in bands like :(shoegazer styles of the mid 90's) Slowdive, Cockteau twins Etc.. but also enjoy much of the detuned bottom end guitar sounds such as bands like: perfect circle,system of a down, Korn Etc..
Most the effects included are pretty decent: Chorus,Delay,Reverb,phaser,reverse and sampler are really good but the really sucky ones are Tremelo,Leslie, gate and compressor. I usally use a line 6 mod for tremelo and leslie and very carefully use the sucky compressor on the 2120.

I have zero problems with this unit going from rehearsal to gigs and have no issues. At this point and time this is my main amp and do have a vox just in case.

No contact with customer service at this time

I play mostly harder edge style in Bands but also do play in a Worship team at church. So i need super big time versatility switching from clean to dirty to solo sounds, to effects and this preamp is an excellent match. I had the opportunity to buy one of these new a few years ago but waited too long and it became discontinued. I have been playing guitar for 16 years and have had a lot of amps good and bad along with various effects but I really like this unit. My favorite thing about the 2120 is the versatile authentic tube sounds and choices of effects.What I really don't like is the lack of effect upgrade to the Leslie and tremelo portion and that it is discountinued- it would be nice to see an upgrade model from digitech(i hope you digitech R&D dept. are reading this). I came really close to buying a line 6 amp but it just was missing some thing in the distortion/overdrive section. I have a friend who had an upgrade chip in his line6 amp and found my 2120 with the peavey tube power amp sounded better and had an authentic overdrive tone. As for standard guitar amps like Mesa, marshall and fender, this reproduces 90% of those sounds. I think if I had a Mesa Rectifier/tube power amp would my life would be complete, along with an effects upgrade.This really helps me to find the right sound in a quick flash and dial in the exact sound that is in my head. I bought this unit( on ebay of course) based on Harmony Central reviews and every one's input was valuable. Even the guys complaing about the programming and that the sound was bad, made me think that they really like the unit and are just trying to keep this unit a secret. I believe this is undiscovered gem and affordable, perfect for the guitarist who does not want to haul around a huge rack and amps.I was very skeptical about this unit ability to deliver "real tube" tone but I really enjoy it.As long you have a good tube power amp this will satisfy the "tube tone" people. To this very date, still finding very interesting tones and sounds to experiment with.