DigiTech 2120 VGS Artist

If you know other DIGITECH products like GSP 2101, VALVE FX, STUDIO QUAD a.s.o. - you know how to use it without learning.

No comments! The quality of the sounds is extremly high.

Reliability is much better than VALVE FX (hanging like hell!)

I asked DIGITECH factory some questins about their offer but when I asked them to explain me the reasons for some stupid mistakes they made in this 2120 and they did not give me the answers.

Taking into consideration that it is the highest model of DIGITECH rack mounted processors it is for sure not perfect one! It has some general mistakes.

First of all the fundamental mistake is inserting the loop for external effects before distortion section!!! What a genius brain did think it out?!!! Can you imagine that you insert some other processor which has a noise gate programed in a swell mode, than the pitch shifter adding a little strings sound, then some phaser adding a space sound and some smooth delay and then after these effects you switch on the distotion section of GSP 2120. All those swell, harmonics and delayed and repeated sounds are distorting the preamp!!! It must be fantastic. It is not acceptable and not logical! In GSP 21 and in GSP 2101 the loop is inserted AFTER the preamp!!! It is so easy to make it again! What for "to improve" something what is working properly?

Another big mistake is mono fx return in fx loop! Who is still using mono processors? Obviously mono loop is better than lack of the loop (like in VALVE FX) but one more jack socket would not ruin DIGITECH factory.

Another mistake - only jack outputs! In GSP 2101 there were two alternative outputs, so why not in this one?

Another mistake - lack of ARPPEGIATOR. Big mistake - it is very usefull effect and it was inclued in the previous version of GSP 2101 and in VALVE FX, so why not in GSP 2120?

Another mistake - the digital section does not include the effect TIME WARP which is included in STUDIO QUAD4. Why not in this one?

So, if DIGITECH made so good - as concerns the quality of sounds - processor, why they made so stupid mistakes? Without these mistakes it would be a prefect processor.

I have lot of DIGITECH products (3 GSP 21, 3 STUDIO QUAD, 2 STUDIO QUAD4, 2 FALVE FX, 1 GSP 2101, 2 SPACE STATIONS). I play modern jazz with some space and industrial sounds generated from GSPs. I hope one day DIGITECH mill make a GSP which will include:

- tube preamp
- stereo loop inserted AFTER the distortion section
- digital section including ARPEGIATORS and TIME WARP
- at least two stereo outputs

OK so this is not easy enogh for a child to program. So what! Have you ever tried working with an Eventide Harmonizer. Professional studio quality sound gear is hard to set up period. That is why professional sound personel can make a career out of it. The most important thing to remember is read the freakin manual and understand what the settings of the desired effect would be before you set it. In other words start subtle and then build from there.

As far as the sound goes I have never heard a rig yet as good as mine. I'm not meaning to sound like an egomaniac but I've had more amps and processors than you can imagine. I've owned Marshall DSL & TSL amps in both Head & Combo form. I've owned a Mesa Mark IV head & currently own a Rectoverb combo. I've owned a Boss GT-3 & GT-6, also a Digitech Legend, GeNetx2, and some older rack mount RP unit. Plus too many solid state combos to mention along with some cheaper tube amps. The key to the sound quality is what its running through. This is basically a computer designed for guitar processing. As with any computer garbage in = garbage out. I run the 2120 stereo to a Mesa Boogie 50/50 stereo power amp, and then stereo into a Mesa Boogie 4x12 Recto Cab (the shorter recto cab) loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s. Everybody who has heard this set up just about goes nuts over the sound quality. There is no noise period just set the gate to your desired setting. The only problem is for various guitars you need to set different patches with various amounts of noise gate, for example single coils need the gate opened up or else the gate will cut all of your signal after the initial pick attack. But this is normal operation for noise gates. From twangy to death metal this preamp/signal processor will cover it.

I've owned mine for a few years now and it is by far the best most reliable equipment I've ever owned. I've also owned several used processors from Digitech stuff thats like 15 years old and it works like new. I'm giving it a 9 just because digital units are tempermental and you cannot abuse the crap out of them. For example if you have the Control One midi controller that Digitech used to sell with this DO NOT DISCONNECT from the 2120 while it is turned on. This will erase all of your settings. I have gigged with this but I primarily play for my own enjoyment at home.

Never had to deal with any support issues. But I would highly recommend to Digitech they start making this unit again because their GeNet series sucks compared to this. This is professional quality and every thing they make now is geared to a much lower end market. I have never used my GeNetx2 through my Rectoverb combo as I've just acquired it but I'm going to give it a try. Still though nothing else I've tried in any modeling amp or floor effects processor even comes close. PLEASE DIGITECH BRING THE 2120 VALVE GUITAR SYSTEM BACK!!!

Overall rating is a 9 because nothing is perfect even though this is as close as you will ever get. Remember I was so impressed with this sound I gave up my Mesa Boogie Mark IV head to go solo with the 2120 VGS as my preamp and I've never regretted that decision. My Mark IV at the time and still today is probably the nicest amp I'd ever owned. But when I hooked this up through it I was blown away.

Out of the box the gate threshold is set too high on nearly every patch, so it cuts off the sound. Even Digitech customer support told me this! Editing patches is not difficult, however there are so many settings that you can spend all day at it. I probably spent over a week getting all my favorite sounds. Get rpedit software. Use it to back up your patches in case you get a system crash, then you fix the unit by doing a system reset, which erases all your patches. Also, any midi sequencer can record all your patches via sysex.

The manual was ok but the system is so deep it can crush you. There are still sections in the manual where I couldn't give you a clue what they are talking about.

Over time, you can get quite fast at improving your patches. Eventually I go for MONTHS not touching the unit. The only real thing to be aware of is that for live playing, it needs to be set up extensively prior to the gig, playing THOSE TUNES, with THAT BAND. Minimally, set up the Solo button and volume pedal on EVERY patch, or you will be running to your amp without the right range of volume available. (EVERY GUITAR AMP NEEDS A SOLO BUTTON ON A FOOTSWITCH LIKE THE 2120!). Also one must understand that, for example, if you want chorus on a patch, or even reverb, you have to add it to the configuration for every single patch you plan to use, or it ain't there. Not like a boss chorus pedal where you just hit the same button every time and get chorus. On the other hand, the digitech chorus has about 2000 possible sounds...

I like to open up rpedit and play with some patches now and then to see what I come up with, as tastes change. For fast tweaks the front panel is fine. However, this unit is not for the faint of heart, it will take time to learn what it does.

I had the unit for 2 years before I realized there were more factory patch numbers (and patches) available from turning the big front panel knob, than there are available from the foot switch! Hidden joys.

So, ease of use, PRIOR to setup, is a 1, since it is completely useless out of the box. AFTER setup, it is a 9.

The sound quality is superb. I like taking it into studios where the engineers suspiciously hook it up to see how noisy it is... THERE IS NONE. (after the gate shuts...). The unit used direct is possibly the best guitar sound you can get, some would argue a speaker miked is better in some situations.

I use it with a gibson es347, which is sort of an odd guitar, I get a lot of great tones with it. I think it works better with "standard" guitars like ibanez, fender and gibson, when I let others use it. I also set up a patch for my Yamaha nylon and Carvin steel string acoustics and it is AWESOME for direct recording, none of my guitar friends can believe my direct acoustic sounds.

THE EFX ARE AWESOME. Too many to list. Especially the stereo effects and choruses are cool.

I go direct, I've never used it with an amp. Usually I am listening to it on studio monitors. Even live I just feed it to the board and listen out the vocal monitors, I don't use an amp any more.

If you can't get the sound you want from this unit, you haven't spent enough time on it, period. It's there, waiting for you.

The effect that sucks the most is the wah wah, it is utterly useless. The amp simulations are pretty useless as well. It took me a long time to get distortions I liked, that's me. REPLACE THE TUBES, THE STOCK ONES ARE JUNK. I liked the unit much more after I did this.

I have heard people play this unit plugged into a power amp, then into 4X12 cabinet, and it blew away any guitar setup I have ever heard. And you can just scroll through awesome setting after awesome setting, once it is set up.

Every one who has ever heard me demo my setup is completely amazed.

I had a few seizeups early on... this was due to my clumsy editing with the pedal, which will let you program things that will then crash the system. A quick reboot would normally solve any problem a person had, but I haven't had any for a long time.

I have a strange bug with mine; after the unit is powered on, in about 2 minutes it will produce no volume. This is caused by the volume pedal somehow, and working the pedal once cures it until you shut it off. Customer support couldn't do anything with this problem, I had to figure it out the fix by trial and error. It still does it though.

There also is nothing in the manual about how to get the looping functions to work, and customer support promised to send me something on it and never did. I don't think it was actually finished. Otherwise they were very helpful.

No problem with needing a backup. I actually have had years of useful service out of this unit and can rely on it to produce awesome tone at will now. Also realize that ONCE YOU FIND YOUR DREAM TONE, IT IS SAVED FOREVER. Think about this. So this is much more reliable and useful than pedal boxes and guitar amps.

I play smooth jazz, fusion, new age, occasionally classic rock. I get what I want from the unit. I have been playing for over 30 years. I have a lot of equipment, I mainly play in my own studio these days. I would replace it immediately. It doesn't have amp modeling, but 95% of all amp models sound like crap to me, I can nearly always tell if a sound is modeled, it sounds flanged and is not accurately responsive to touch. I think modeling will eventually improve and overtake the features of this unit, but it hasn't happened yet. The tc electronic g force is probably a slightly better unit but also costs $1450. I notice Frank Gambale, who helped develop the 2120 and used it on at least one Chick Corea album, uses the g force live, however he told me he thought the 2120 was a really great unit.

I wish the wah wah and the looping worked.

Once you actually take some time to familiarize yourself with everything and mess around with all the controls, everything becomes pretty easy to use without even thinking about it.

guitars: St. Louis Music (SLM) 60th Anniv. guitar, Jackson KE3, Jackson DX7, Jackson Warrior, all with DiMarzio pickups.
This unit has never been noisy. The effects are top quality, except maybe the wah, but I don't remember DigiTech being praised for their wah effects. I use this primarily for clean channel as it's clean presets are excellent, but I use my own settings. I run it stereo through a QSC power amp and a Genz-Benz 212 enclosure and it's crystal clear and beautiful. The distortions aren't the greatest, but if you tweak around with the tube distortion, it can be pretty ballsy. I use distortion sparingly.

The compressor and limiter are both excellent as they do what they're supposed to. It does have an FX loop but I don't ever use it because I personally don't think it's all that great.

Running this unit through a power amp or just the FX return on a head will have the unit sounding exactly like it's supposed to, running through the instrument input on ANYTHING will make it sound like sh**
Other than that, the sound quality is EXCELLENT.

Never had any problems because I've taken very good care of it. When I first got it, used, the sound dropped out but I had the tubes replaced and it hasn't screwed up on me since.

never had to deal with them

Overall I think this unit is very versatile with whatever you want.

This thing can really make you crazy,innumerable and useless parameters,useless because the sound really sucks even if you are a sound techician and you know how to use them all.The manual is totally useless,it misses all important things and makes you know just bullshit or things that you already know.I've got 2.10 version,i hope they will never upgrade such a piece of shit.

I've got 6 guitars,all of them are professional instruments.2120 kills them all.The preamp section is awful,almost all effects' quality is very bad,lots of senseless parameters and effects.In particular wahs,whammy are totally unusable.

The first 2120 i owned lasted 1 night,i had to replace it with another one,thanks to warranty.The control one original pedalboard lasted two months:all the most important and utilized parts are in cheap plastic.

I will never deal with Digitech any more

The biggest mistake i did as guitarist.

So much easier to use then then the digitech 2101. Pretty easy. If you take 45 mins to read the instructions and 45 mins to dink around with controls, youll be set for the rest of your life with this thing! Digitech made it alot easier to EQ and change the gain on the fly incase you want to tweak some tone.

Lot better then any other multi effects proccesor i've used. I play with a gibson paul and SG thru a rack into a Sovtek mig-100 tube and a marshall 4X12. I used the BOSS GT-3 for over a year and i liked it and got used to it. As soon as i got the 2120, i noticed the Boss effects 'colored' the tone unlike the digitech. The digitech digital effects is very close to stomp pedals... which i love! I would get stomp pedals but i hate carrying a huge board and have multiple pedals for different effects. As far as the distortion...I LOVE IT! it took me a month to tweek with it but FINALLY i found the perfect distortion i was looking for. The Digitech has two Tubes which allows you to run real tube distortion which sounds amazing! i almost cryed when i dialed it in. Perfect crunch, sustain...man...it also has solidsate distortion if your into that sort of thing.

If you need a great rack multi-effects processor, this is your guy. If you can find one of course.I play emo/indie/experemtal and it suit me well. It has everything you need to play the nessecities an also some experemental stuff. Let me tell you tho...the pre-sets BLOW! they suck hard. You will have to find all the right tone yourself. Once you find tones you like, you will be in love. Dual S-disc proccesing allows fast switches between banks which is key as well. One thing i wish it had tho was a input in the back...but thats not a huge deal. Good luck to all those that can find one!

This kind of toys are not easy to use. You have a lot of places to visit and you have to take lots of important decisions. Naming a patch "Creamy lead" is a whole different philosofy than naming it "Solo - 3rd tune". You really have to put yourself into learning to use this thing. But I think that once you spend a couple of days with the manual, everything comes pretty easy.

I play modern jazz. Basically clean, clean sounds; I like to focus on the music on not get hooked with the classic "nerd with tons of equipment that has a great sound but plays shit". Both things are important, but sound is just a way to say something. The important thing, at least to me, is what you are saying.
Gibson 335 or Gibson SG -> (Several effects) -> 2120 -> Fender Twin Reverb (reissue (no effect loop)).
The 2120 has a lot of fantastic sounds, and none of them are listenable in the factory patches. Specially if your not into heavy stuff. You must really take your time exploring, playing with EQ and thinking "how can I tell this thing the sound I have in my head...?".
Digital effects are incredible; try them in stereo. The preamp is just good, but nothing other-worldly. If you really want to use the preamp, dont even think about not using your effect loop.

Its good for recording direct. But when I record direct is because I'm trying to find a different sound that the one I get with my amp. If you want to hear an amp, look for an amp. All emulations are just that: emulations.

Changing the stock tubes is an excellent idea.

The knobs are not at all well made. They feel loose right out from the box. Like all this kind of equipment, extra care is needed. Also, its basically a computer, and not an old Ford that you can open the hood and fix everything with your hands. I always keep my old pedals around.

Great, great, great thing for clean sounds. Used in stereo its incredible. Once you understand the lousy and incomplete manual, you can make patches without using your mind.

I truly dont recommend getting used to your computer for programming; the idea is being able to be in a jam and change things on the fly. And the RPEdit does not have all the parameters you can find when you edit patches directly.

After a few months of daily "sound searching", you can get a ridiculous amount of great sounds from it; but dont get lost in there, the real things are out theeeeere.

Getting a good sound from the 2120 is not a 5 minute affair! Don't get me wrong it has some totally awesome sounds in there you just have to play around a bit to find them, which can be difficult has you cant really get the volume at home to do it and when rehearsing no one like you messing around. But I have built up some great sounding pre amp modules that I use as a basis all my sounds.

The foot controller is great you can put any parameter on to a footswitch or the continuous controller. One of my favourites is to set the tube gain onto the controller and also the level but set it so that the volume decreases as the gain rises, you can move from a clean sound to full on overdrive just by rocking the footswitch!

You can even set parameters to change depending on how hard you hit the guitar I have done this with the gain and volume again so that when I play gently I get a great clean sound, but as I play harder the 2120 cranks up the gain into overdrive awesome!!! I even have it rolling the chorus effect off as the overdrive comes in. All from the level of my playing.!

Anyone who tells you these units don't sound great is talking rubbish! You can get almost any sound you want out of the preamp. I switch all the effects, gate and compressors out so that I am just left with the tube preamp and eq module then I spend time getting a great flat tone from the pre amp. I have been using a Marshall DSL for a few years and can easily get just as good sounds from my 2120. In fact I just run the output of the 2120 straight into the effects return of the Marshall so I can use its valve power amp!

The digital effects are awesome... takes a bit of understanding to figure out which ones you can use together full s disc half s disc quarter etc... but once you have figured that out thee effects available are awesome... the chorus flange and phase are brilliant again you need an understanding of how to set these effects up as you would with anyone! in fact every effect is great even the harmoniser! with a bit of fiddling you can get a 12 string sound using the pitch shifter! cant recommended this unit highly enough!

Been using and heavily gigging with Digitech gear since 1990 never had a problem with it even when drop or trodden on!

I recently upgraded my old GSP 21 Pro to legend spec with a chip from the Digitech factor, I emailed them asking if it was still available , they promptly replied said yes they had one chip left. I gave them my address and it arrived a few days later complete with fitting instructions and new user manual, and guess what... no charge! it doesn't get any better than that!!!! these guys are great!

I play in both a function band and an original material band. With the original material, the digitech stays at home, its just me my Marshall, rickenbacker and lead... but for functions the Digitech is invaluable I have different sounds and setups for every song sometimes 3 or 4 sounds per song! Couldn't be without it!

Initial use is bonehead simple -- you plug it into your amp or power amp of choice, spin the wheel to pick a sound, and rock. Unfortunately, the stock patches ALL SUCK. Horribly. Too much noise gate, too overboard on the effects. If the 120+ factory presets, I would say that about ten of them are usable in a live situation. Learning to edit patches, if you've never used one of this family of Digitech units, is a little slow at first, but once you get the hang of it (a few days in my case) you can fly. The manual is pretty good.

I use this with a Peavey Classic 120 (not the 120/120), into a Marshall 2x12. My main guitar is a 1999 Les Paul Custom loaded with Seymour Duncans (Custom 5 bridge, Pearly Gates neck). This unit really does sound great. The distortions get a bad rap from some people, but I've found the tube distortions in particular to be quite good. Put it this way -- before this rig, my last two amps were a Mesa Dual Rectifier and a Mesa Mark IV, and I don't particularly miss either of them. It did take a while to get them sounding good, but the good sounds are there. As far as the effects go, the delays and reverbs are excellent, especially for the price of the unit. The choruses, flangers, and phasers are also very good. The Leslie simulator doesn't sound anything like a real rotary speaker, but it's a nice subtle effect as well. The wah is laughably bad, and the pitch shifter and harmony patches are bad as well. All in all, this unit does a lot of things well, and it gives you incredible control over every little detail.

I can and do gig without a backup. The knobs aren't very confidence inspiring, but the unit itself has been bulletproof.

I downloaded a manual from their website. I've never had to contact them -- I live 5 miles from their factory, though. Cool, huh?

I love this thing. It gives me the versatility I need, in a compact, easy to use package. I can and do play virtually any style of music on my current rig, and I don't have to tote a fleet of amps or a pedalboard the size of an aircraft carrier to do so.

It's very easy to manage this unit. Just read the manual.

I have a Ibanez RG with V1 S1 V2 pickups, Marshall MG100HDFX Head, 2 Straight 1960 Marshall Cabinets. This thing is really quiet, the noise gates are great if you learn how to teak it. Clean Sounds are amazing. The dirty sounds are good but you need some hours, days or weeks to get a desired one. I play Satriani, Dream Theater, Metal. Dream Theater Sound was very difficult to get, maybe you can get that sound if you buy a triaxis, boogie and some Lexicon PCM 80 with a price of $ 6000 or more. I think this unit is great for Metal, Hard Rock, Jazz. The wah is really bad, buy a Cry Baby 535 Q. The Whammy is good. The best thing of this unit is the configurations of effects you can use. You can have a tube dist paralel with a Solid Sate Dist, or maybe you can bypass both and put the Fx loop with your favorite amp or preamp, then in the digital section you can combine up to 8 digital effects (you can get really weird cool new sounds). The foot controller is really great yo can control-activate/deactivate every effect parameter. You can also add and buy 2 more expression pedals to obtain more control. (example: you can put a volume control pedal, a whammy pedal and change delay time with another pedal ). You can also program a footswitch with solo boost (from now on your solos would always be heared).
Remember you can have a really good State of the art equipment or some pedals and Multi effecs processors but the most important is how you play guitar. Joe Satriani get his distorted sounds from a Boss Distortion Pedal. http://www.guitargeek.com

I haven't had any problem with the unit.
I have a furman PL PLUS to protect it against hi voltages and noise.

Never need in any of my digitech products.

I would definitely buy it again. This units work greater if you combine it with other stuff like other preamps, BBE Maximizers.