DigiTech BP-8 Bass Processor

Like any all in one processor, it isn't as easy to use as pedals - but it's not bad compared to some other units. Keep the manual with you at all times. It's laid out well and easy to read and understand.

I'm giving the sound quality a 10 only for the parts of the unit I use. I only use this unit for three things: 1) the tube 12AX7 preamp, 2) the tuner, and 3)the foot pedal using it as a master volume. I only use this unit with my Ampeg B-100R for small gigs because it's a solid state amp, and I wanted a tube preamp to warm it up. (All of my other Ampegs amps are all tube or have tube preamps). I really like the preamp #1 (Warm Tube) and #5 (Classic Tube). #1 sounds more like a Portaflex and #5 sounds more like an SVT. Everything else in the unit is bypassed. Occasionally I might add in the compressor (which works very well) but I never use the EQ setting. For EQ, I rely on my amp. The wahs are surprisingly good - a bit on the Morley side compared to a crybaby - but not bad. The modulation effects leave a little to be desired. I like to use a bass flanger and a phaser live, but I personally like my old DOD pedals better than this unit, or my old Small Stone phaser. The BP8's modulation effects sound week, thin, and there isnt as much control over the settings as with a pedal. The Octabass, auto-pan, tremelo, reverb, and delay all work well - but again, I never use them. And the fretless simulator? Learn to play fretless and dont use this. I have a couple of fretless basses and this effect sounds nothing like them. Personally I htink it's just a gimmick to add to the marketing of this unit.

This unit is built like a tank and was made in USA, unlike all the Chinese built stuff nowadays. No problems with it so far. I bought the unit used, and I swapped out the stock tube for a JJ-Tesla. A Tung Sol would probably have been even better, but I would recomend changing the tube right away if you buy a used one.

Never had any issues with Digitech or DOD in the past. All of my old DOD pedals were made in USA and never gave me problems or reasons to call customer support.

Overall this is a great unit if you are looking for a genuine 12AX7 preamp for bass to warm up a solid state amp. Again, thats all I use it for - and for that purpose - it works well. I never use the effects or all the bells and whistles. I rely on my amp for most of my sound, and I rarely change my sound throughout a live gig. If you use pedals for certain modulation sounds- you'll probably want to keep using them.

Well, it's got that very familiar Digitech matrix layout, which is relatively easy to understand. A bit more complex than the newer products, but there's a yin to that yang-TONE!!! I think ALL new(er) Digitech products suck, but these older units have a sound and build quality to them that is very top-notch. That being said, read the manual and keep it handy, and you will get used to using the unit properly. The manual is for the most part well laid out, and will cover everything you need to know to get on your way exploring new sounds and creating "your" tone. Provided that you have some clue with editing and EQ'ing, as well as input and output leveling, you WILL get a great sound from this outdated beast. This is no toy; rather, this is a piece from a time when Digitech made REAL gear!

OK, this is NOT where we complain about how hokey the factory presets are. Things like triped-out space echo with flange and a very saturated distortion couldn't be used for much besides a 15-second solo, but I think that's why such presets are there. It gives you an idea of what the unit can be capable of. If you think the brand new Boss GT-10 series won't have any of those "made-you-look" presets, think again. That being said, you get 40 user patches to create "your" sounds, and there's more than enough usable EQing and effects to build any tone you could possibly imagine. Seriously, the tube preamp, EQ, and compressor on this thing are alone worth the price of admission. Some of the effects leave a little to be desired, the autowah acts more like an older envelope follower, and I have NEVER heard an octave-up effect that sounded good, That's nitpicking just a little; the effetcs are really quite good. The BEST bass chorus I have ever heard-period! Add to that a 12AX7 tube preamp which can be bypassed, and a super-powerful EQ, and you've got one killer stage and studio unit. Some effects can be a bit noisy, but any effect with a higher gain structure WILL produce noise. Thankfully, the BP-8 has a great fully adjustable noise gate. Learn how to properly use this and you won't be sorry. I don't usually try to get an artist's sound, rather, I look for my sound. I have, however, built a pretty good Flea patch, and that oh-so-sweet distorted wah sound that Geezer Butler used for N.I.B.

Again, this unit was built when Digitech made real gear for the real working musician. This unit is very solid and totaly stage-worthy. The goofy 5-pin coneecting power supply will make you take care of your gear(it's a $50.00 replacement and may take the company a while to send it). I will be building my own pedalboard with power so that I never have to remove the cord from the unit ever again. It is, however, a heavy duty cord(nothing like the hair-thin ones nowadays). I would not hesitate to use this processor without backup.

I have never dealt directly with the company, but the unfortunately have a reputation of not answering/returning calls or emails. Being as this in an outdated unit, I guess I won't have to worry about that. Just like an older car-after 36,000 miles-YOU are the warranty! The website, on the other hand, is very nice, very informative, and has just about every manual available for download/print.

I play everything from classic and hard rock, to jazz, blues, reggae, and acoustic rock. This unit offers enough for me to perform/record in any situation I could ever see myself in. They're discontinued, so replacing it would not be easy. Just the same, I would have to hunt one down if mine were stolen or lost. In my personal opinion, it really lacks nothing(considering it was introduced in 1998 and discontinued in 2003). If any bassist found that this unit got in their creative way, they are either EXTREMELY fussy, or have a complete lack of understanding the technology of a GOOD preamp/processor. I got a steal-deal on mine. I have seen them still pull over $100.00 on ebay, and even at that much, this unit is easily worth it.

this box is fantastic. getting a good sound is easy provided you follow the following: keep the input volume low, have a good, bass, have a good amp. this is not a miracle worker. it will not make your squier and practice amp sound like an ampeg full stack and top quality bass. READ THE MANUAL i cant stress this enough. read it and you will learn how to use it wisely.

im using an alvarez bass and a peavey mark lll head and peavey 3620 cab. also i put this through my practice amp which is a crate bx50. through the peavey it sounds godly with all the effects. it is a yin to my bass and amps yang. however this sux with the practice amp. its kinda my fault though as the only way to connect this to anything but real good practice amps is through the input. the best way to hook it up is through the effects loop (duh) but some amps dont allow you to do that. with this setup you can either just barely hear everything with no buzz or you can hear it all with lots of buzz on the side. the actual effects are very good, i can get a very spacey sound as well as a drunk sound with the wah pedal. it has some really good sounds thanks to the 12ax7 in it provided that your amp has an effects loop.

this thing is tank-like. the expression pedal is securley fastened to mine (....) and all the buttons can take a pounding from my boots. not a scratch on it. no need for a backup here.

how come companies are so hard to deal with when it comes to discontinued items. eveything in my sound is either very old or not made anymore and for each one i had to pull teeth to get any sort of information on it.

i play moistly rock and metal but sometims classic rock too. i reccommend this product over many of the newer digitech prodecut because it has the same features for 1/3 the price. the only thing i wish it did was more than 2 footswitches to change channels. dont be fooled by its appearance. the 4 buttons in front is to turn on or off the EQ, Preamp, Compressor, and Mod for one of the 40 user or factory presets on the fly. dont worry though. its still a solid buy for under $150

Once you've TAKEN YOUR TIME and figured out how it works, it's pretty simple to get good sounds. It does take an understanding of what you're trying to program, though. Presets, as with most units are pretty much useless - think about it, they were programmed by and for another players hands (the most crucial aspect of ALL the sound!!!)

I am currently using an OLP Music Man copy after my Geddy Lee Fender Jazz fell apart on me. I have bypassed the unit's preamp and EQ in favor of going thru my SansAmp Bass Driver first, then the processor into a Hartke 12" Kickback. So, I use the BP-8 almost solely for effects. I like the compression and the noise gate to eliminate any noise. Some effects are better than others, but I don't need to use the ones I don't like, fortunately. The transpose effect is silly - buy a 5 string. The fretless and bowed effects are a pretty cheesy - but I haven't bothered to tweak them. Chorus and envelope filter are great. I like a little flange and phaser on a few sounds, too. I do use the low octave effect and it is HUGE when done appropriately - it took me a long time to get it right! I don't like the overdrives or distortions - if I need them, I pull out my Boss ODB. I am able to get a Geddy-like tone for the more aggressive songs and I can get a nice Jaco tone, too. When I use my Hofner copy, I can get a GREAT thumpy McCartney. And I LOVE the sound I get when I slap. I even have a Mike Gordon-type sound with the envelope filter. I have gotten so many compliments on my tone since I sat down and FIGURED THIS UNIT OUT. Well worth the time.

I've used this on hundreds of dates, and never had a problem. Even used it direct to the board a few times.

I've never had a need to talk with the company.

I play a wide variety of music and this unit has facilitated the flexibility wonderfully. I have been playing for ten years, now, and finally have become settled and happy with "my tone".
www.everybodylovesrecess.com

I think that almost right out of the box this thing sounds great. Not perfect, but it works if you are in a hurry.

I use it with a Fender Jazz, and a SWR workingman's 18. Not sure why, but I get some serious popping when I change to the "Regge" bank. Everything else seems fine.

I have been playing for about 6 years now and I bought the BP8 when it first hit the shelves. Everything comes together rather well, patches, editing, etc, but mine seems not to like live outdoor venues. It seems that between 85 and 95 degrees it overheats, and shuts off! A SERIOUS DISASTER LIVE!!! Also, the display is in red LEDs, so if you play is a club, it works out. In an outdoor gig, the sun totally washes your display, so you have to keep crack of where your banks are in your head, and remember how many stomps in either direction you need to go to get to a bank. Again, A BIG PROBLEM OUTDOORS!!!

Does anyone there ever answer the damn phone?

Overall, I think that this is a good buy if you play indoors, no regge, and like to not get in touch with the company's service center.

this thing is just as easy to use as all the other digitech processors. I actually wish the manual was a little more technical.

the distortions lack bite, everything else sounds good after proper tweaking (ignore the factory presets they don't do the BP8 justice!!!)
I agree with everyone else REVERB IS NOT A HUGE BASS REQUIREMENT....
I also agree that it would be nice if digitech started putting power switches on thier floor processors....

just like any other metal chassis floor processor

I never needed any for this yet but have called digitech in the past for other equipment (they are obviously overwhelmed and can't be bothered by any body) Companies that move less volume treat you better. I called carvin and they acted like they knew me all my life and gave me advice about equipment for about a half hour.(just an example.)

I play mainly hard rock. This processor is all I need, it's simple,cool looking on stage, sounds great if tweaked properly and it is extremely convenient (no frikken patch cables and velcro).
It just needs a power switch and a padded carrying case.

Very easy to use especially in the user-bank mode.
Why is everyone so upset about the 100 mSec. delay while switching
from one sound to another???
I like the tuner and the bypass is also very reliable (much better
then my BP200)
Editing is no problem with the matrix, after a while you get it modified very quickly and you can hear what you do realtime!
My unit was build june 2001 so I don't know which software it has got
inside.

I use a brandnew Laney system which is out on the market, it's the
B2. It's a bi-amp system 2x750 Watts max (yes 750!!)The set is a
2x10(rehersals) combo with a separate 1x15 (Gig's) on the floor.
The BP8 is a little noisy but very acceptable whilst playing.
Some effects I like some I don't. I like the pre-amp very much in the
very 1st preset, that is with some compression and a warm clean tube
sound.
The enveloppe-filter is very nice that is when you connect the pedal
to it for an extra bit of filtering effect.
I dont like the distortionsettings because I dont do that kind of shitsounds.(sorry!)
The best sound for you punkguys I think is the SVT Grit which I think
must be a copy from a big 8x10 Ampeg rig.
The fretless effects dont come close to the real thing. Better buy a real fretless bass.
Wah effects are very neat but you have to ajust your sound for a better low-end.

I think it's a very well build floorboard but the only thing I find
very poor is the DIN powersupply-plug and chassis in the BP8.
The 2nd day I modified the set with a Neutric XLR (European quality)
chassis and connector. Very easy to do!!! Now this set is like a tank!
I would certanly use this set on a gig. If it brakes down I plug in
into my Lany B2 which sound pretty perfect(it has a tube pre-amp)

I never dealt with the guys in the States because we have our own
distributor in The Netherlands (Total Audio: a very good company)

I play Rock and Pop music and I think it's a very nice product and
I use it often.
I've been playing for about 23 years: Fenders, Ric's, you name it... Nowadays I play Music-Man Stingray's 4 and 5's and sometimes a Godin BG Bass which I think is a very proffessional bass and very underestimated the musicscene.(These guys in Canada have the wood...!)
My Fender days are over; ones a Mercedes always Mercedes.(Thanks Mr. Ernie Ball).
I also have a brandnew Digitech BP200: It sucks!!!
You have a very bad bypass. The BP8 does not have this problem at all.
I would strongly recommend Digitech to do the following:
-Put in a proffesional connector XLR-type for the powersupply and put
in a switch to turn it off!!!
-Make the outputs also balanced for the P.A.
-Get an SPDIF or AES-EBU output for the studio.
-Shield the lot with foil for beer etc. on stage.
-Try a better tube for less hiss!
I'm a proffesional sound engineer but maybe I ask too much!
I still believe it is a very good product with ups and downs just like
all the other musicproducts.

I've been playing for over 10 years, I'm also a trained sound engineer. This makes me the wrong person to ask. Its easy - just try setting up a 5 band compressor, this is a doddle in comparison! O.K alot of people are moaning about it being too complex, but it can do a hell of a lot of stuff, so it's going to have alot of variables to play with. If you can't cope, why didn't you try it before you bought it???

The thing is most people don't really know how to set up compressors, so they think this one ain't too hot, it is in fact fantastically good, having a highpass filter built in is a huge advantage. But more complex. Which shouldn't put you off.

Its the standard Digitech grid system for choosing the parameter to tweak - not rocket science. It just helps to have some clue as to what to do with the parameters.

I would suggest most intelligent people could operate every aspect of the unit within an hour. They might spend 6 months learning how to get the post out of the unit though ;-). To me thats a really good thing, to you it might be too much like hard work, learning and experimentation.

OK noise levels are great - I regularly use this direct to hard disk, or protools or whatever. I also use it live no probs, and thats with some pretty meaty rigs at the far end. (On this note, I love being able to mute the output b4 removing the lead, save the poor sound guys speakers, he will thank you for it).

My bass is custom built.

I run either an old 300w Laney stack with 2 4x10s left and right of the drums. This should make me more susceptible to noise than anyone with 15s, yet I have absolutely no complaints. If its a bigger gig I run it straight into a Crown Lab amp that pushes 1200 watts into 2 BIG 15s and the 2 4x10s - the result of which is utterly superb. On this point noone here has mentioned

If its too noisy then you haven't set up your signal gains properly throughout the signal chain, just like any other effect.

I wouldn't be afraid to attempt to try any sound on this one effects unit its that good.

I feel its only failing is the transistor preamp settings are kind of lacking in ummph to me - no bottom end, whilst the tube ones seem too boomy.

This is ok though as the 4 band semi-parametric eq is just lovely, really musical and sweet for tweaking the tone. Its capable of a lot more than minor tweaks too, I find I often forego the preamp, and just eq my bass sound instead, this is awesome combined with a good compression setting.

I use every bass technique in the book too, slap, finger style, tapping, double thumping - what ever is comfy for the part. Its a credit to the compressor that its all very even on output, I've dedicated compressors that don't handle bass this well, and cost more.

I've used this unit in literaly hundreds of gigs, no probs. Its just ran and ran. If you are a gorilla you might break it, but you'd have to try!

It loses a mark though as there is a software problem. When you change the level of an envelope filter volume it doesnt register unless you turn the filter off and back on. I found this out just after I bought the unit. Told Digitech UK, sent it back and got a new unit three days later. Telling me I should turn off the envelope filter section then turn it back on to hear the volume change - hmmmm strange eh!

Read the above on reliability, I cant fault the replacement speed, but telling me the fix was to do what I was doing as a work around was rather lame. Anyone else got this problem?? Wonder whether there is some way to upgrade the firmware?

I play a mixture of styles. Very old school ('60s) funk, all the way through to avante garde noise/metal/industrial. I love it all. Fave artists range from Bootsy, through to Victor Wooten and Michael Manring right the way through to Les Claypool, Marilyn Manson, Cann, Chrome and Squarepusher.

I get a superb JBs bass sound, and right next to it is a loverly Victor sound from Three Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. I've made some super distorted envelope filter funk squelches, and some beautiful mellow chorus sounds, not to mention the punchiest overdriven tones that recreate Les Claypool's early four string work on Frizzle Fry.

I've been playing for over 10 years, and am a trained sound engineer.
I own alot of other gear :) both PA and recording.

If this were stolen I'd hunt down the thief to get my presets back - even though I've got them in my PC. I'd definitely have to replace it.

Love the notch filter - the least understood part of the kit by everyone, guarantees a nearly perfect replica of the tone room to room, the price you pay is the need for a big big amp to make up for no square waves - still, priceless to me.

Why a reverb? Absolute waste of DSP power - when will these people understand, as bassists reverb is our enemy! It muddys the sound. Any hall you play in will have too much reverb on the bass naturally, if you need it in the studio, use a real reverb like a Lexicon! Better give me a second DSP for phazing the output from my Envelope filter to makeeven funkier sounds!

The delay is just forgivable, but not at the expense of dedicating DSP that could be better used, why not have to modulation sections, both with slightly less powerful delays. This is one of the units big let down.

Which also is the reason u cant change patches at the click of a switch - not enough DSP and memory, it really needs another chip to allow faster switching, and a bunch more memory. The couple of tenths of a second of silence REALLY standout, which is unforgivable in a 'live' floor unit. I have to say this DRAMATICALLY lowers he overall score for me.

Tonally its great, but to ruin it with this hiccup and the lack of understanding about the importance of reverb to bassists (i.e hardly any!) do make me question the thought processes behind the designers, what were they thinking. I (and my guess would be the vast majority of owners) use tremolo less than reverb, so why do I have to have a dedicated reverb section???

Overall it definetly helps with making music - the compressor eq and notch filter are easily worth this much alone, and thats forgetting the gorgeous chorus flange and phazer. The envelope filter is ok, not as good as a 'real' analogue one but still very nice. Cant help wishing that the reverb and delay had been less significant though.

Well, I got home on a Friday night from a concert, and the pedal was sitting in a box on the doorstep. I went inside, and opened it up. Tried to figure it out, but I couldn't. I couldn't get a goddam thing together. It didn't occur to me at the time that it probably wasnt the pedal, and I was, shall we say, under the influence at the time. So I went to bed, dissapointed. Woke up, and voila, I figured it out. It's so easy to get whatever sound you want. Editing patches is soooo easy. Everything's right there. You do have to read the manual for it. It's a great booklet, I never would've gotten it together without it.

I'm playing through this with an Epiphone V SG bass, strung E-A-D-G-C. I'm using a Crate 1x15, 100 watt amp. My amp, however, has become just a cabinet. I'm bypassing the EQ and Preamp on my amp for the most part, because the sound of this pedal is amazing. The one 12AX7 tube makes a huge difference. I have replaced the tube since I received this. The most notably good effects are the tremolo, which is amazing, the flange, the chorus, the phase, and the wah/envelope filters. They all sound amazing when used in their elements. However... The 'Fretless Simulator' is such shit I have to lower the score on this. It blows, and does nothing at all, doesnt even sound cool. But in spite of this, awesome pedal. Reverbs and delays are awesome too. The preamps, which use both tube and solid state sounds, are excellent. Goes from warm, to crisp and bright. The distortions are great also. I have patches for all my different sounds. I can also emulate my favorite bassists: Claypool, Wooten, Flea, Squire, Chancellor, Entwistle, yadda yadda yadda....

It's a tank. The only thing I would worry about breaking is the tube. But I will gig without a backup, starting this week.

ahh, digitech. They must have the greatest working hours in the world. THEY NEVER PICK UP THE PHONE... THEY NEVER ANSWER EMAILS.... GOOD LUCK....

I play progressive-alternative rock, mostly. My band is like a combination of Pink Floyd, Tool, Incubus, Yes, and Foo Fighters. Honestly... But anyway, this pedal can do ANYTHING. It's as much a part of my sound as my instrument. I also own a USA Big Muff Pi, and a Boss Flanger. The BP-8 does all that, but more. This would definitely get replaced if anything were to happen to it, (God Forbid.) I love this thing. The only thing about it, is that you can only use one modulation effect at the same time. Oh well. GET THIS THING.

Very easy to use, the programming is among the easiest to work with and editing the patches is a breeze

some of the best effects i've heard or used. i'm speaking from someone who uses this unit live, for real gigs as opposed to someone sitting in their room blasting on a cheesy amp or headphones. the pre-amp settings are extremely usable for some really great clean settings. i haven't used the overdrives and distortions much because i use my standard boss ods always. i have heard if you replace the stock tube with groove tubes or better, the overdrives are remarkably better sounding. i notice a lot of people bellyaching about the reverbs and modulation effects, for one....any bass player who truly feels the need to use a reverb for ANYTHING needs help in the sound department to begin with. sure, reverb sounds cool while making goofy noises in self practice but reverb for bass just doesn't work other than some way spaced out notes here and there. and delays, choruses, flanges, phasers and such are usable in their elements. this unit has great sounding modulation effects, especially the wahs and envelopes. i do have a slight problem with the pitch shifters and octaves. they seem to track at goofy intervals, not sounding natural. in reality, i use this unit for some incredible e-qing and clean sounds...i'm not big on too many crazy effects so i find use for these minimal.

had it for two years and have not had one single problem with it

havent had to use them

ok, overall this is the best unit i have used, and believe me, i have used many. digitech is the leader in multi effects and there really is no better unit for the bass as far as my knowledge goes. i use this in a effects rig including and mxr classic red box compressor (for balancing overall levels between effects) and a boss bass overdrive and it works for my playing great. that is the key though, everybody has different uses for these effects and should consider the source in any review. i immediately discount reviews like some of those below that were posted by imbeciles who obviously have little to no expereince using units like this. i use it in lots of music settings and completely varied styles of music.

The Bp-8 is very easy for me to use. It's the first serious processor I've ever had and I learned how to use it by downloading the manual from Digitech's website long before I bought the actual unit. The patches are easy to edit. They may take a few minutes, but a good sound isn't something that you can just slap together in a couple of seconds. The only problem I ever have adjusting the presets is a slight case of dislxia because I get the value up/down buttons mixed up the parameter up/down.

I have an Alvarez AEB205 with a Peavy TNT 115 and my pedal board has the Boss ODB-3, Boss DS-1, the Big Muff (Russian), Boss FZ-3, Dunlop Bass Crybaby, and Ibanez VL-10 volume pedal. Just before I got the BP-8, all I had was the guitar, amp, ODB-3, Crybaby and the volume. I felt that my tone was lacking something. When I plugged in the BP-8, the tone lacked nothing. I've read reviews by people that say the Bp-8 killed there sound, they couldn't get any low end, the distortions didn't sound good and all kinds of garbage. If you don't kow anything about how to use a preamp and a compressor and an eq, or if you're just plain retarded, then I can see a problem. I love the distortions and the only reason I have the additional stomp boxes is because I like a wide variety of sounds. None of the distortion voicings will sound like any of the stomp boxes no matter how I tweak' em. I use different clean settings to boost or otherwise alter my stomp box sounds. The other effects work great too. The three wah's are all funky and sound way different from the crybaby. My only beef with the modulation/pitch effects is that you can only use one at a time. This unit is such a huge element in my set up that I can't even go to a music store and play on a different set up. I tried twice and I just wasn't impressed with anything.

I've read reveiws from people saying that it was broken right out of the box or broke within a couple of days. I've had mine for a year and have nothing to complain about. I live in Oregon and I bought the thing in California and it survived the airline flight home and another road trip to and from California.

I haven't had to find out what the customer service is like.

I play worship music at church, industrial, rapcore, and othe rhard rock stuff. The BP-8 can cover all fields. If it were solen I would get another ASAP. I love the various preamp settings and all the tonal possibilities. I compaerd it with the Boss ME-8B and the Crate BFX-100 and it blows them both away. I've been playing for 7 years and I wish I had this thing from the beginning. I couldn't get my current sound without it.

You really don't need to be a rocket scientist to work your way through the BP-8. The poatch parameters are laid out right in front of you and you can switch modes quite easily. The manual is a good guide for which patches are which, but after a week or so you won't need it.

I've used the BP-8 solely through a 700watt Peavey Firebass amp with six kevlar 10" speakers. You really need a powerful amp with heavy duty speakers to get all of the rich nuances that are in the effects. The chorus is a great example. You get crisp cutting highs with room shaking lows that a budget amp just wouldn't carry. Some patches are louder than others but that can be fixed easily. The synth sounds are very cool and the chorus is fantastic. The different reverbs, tremolo, and distortions are especially good at making a six-string bass sound just like a guitar if played in the upper register. The noise gate is a bit too sensitive. It can be shut off, though without compromising too much. The expression pedal helps if you cut the noise gate, nut only on certain patches.

After three and a half years and hundreds of road trips it still works like a champ. I had to get the power supply replaced about a year ago and they're pricey-$50.

Never needed it.

It's the brain of my operation. I've played rock, jazz, funk, metal, bluegrass, fusion, and techno, and I always bring the BP-8 to every gig. There's something on it for everyone.

Easy and strait forward use. I haven't found much need for the manual.

The sound quality is so to my liking that I run through a power amp rather than using a bass head in my rig. The bend modulation and the distortion effects need to be revised though. I would like to have a send/return loop on the prosessor so I can use other peddles without adding to the noise. The chorus effect is really cool for mellow lines.

When I play live it would be nice to be able to program the names of all the patches like most of the guitar prosessors do. I have written down all my settings to be on the safe side. It takes ages to tweek sounds okey!

I love the choice and sound quality. The lack of good distortion doesn't bother me as I own distortion peddles. I would like to know if any other bass peddles are comming out with send/return loops on them.

The BP-8 is "Digitech" easy to navigate. If you've used the Matrix-style of settings, this will be nearly identical to work with.

As is true with any multi-effects processor, it can only be as good as the guitar and amp(s) used. The Nemesis 200watt combo I use provides enough low end in its 15" speaker and enough high-end in the tweeter, that I use the BP-8 to accent these already very good tones.

The manual is a good REFERENCE, but that aside, play with the settings on your own. Start clean, and start layering things in until you find the sound you are looking for. If something sounds "too digital" or "too out of tune", back that setting off a bit! Use common sense -- don't crank your distortion and expect silent operation. :)

Since nothing is perfect, and I use my amp to make the sound, and the effects to do just that, I gave this an 8, with the only comment that the display could have had the RP2000's style for patch naming.

Taking the BP-8 out to headphones is not a good judge of its capabilities, even though it does showcase the stereo effects.

Buy a good amp or go into a mixer with the BP-8, and you will find much more successful tone qualities than going through a $100 amp from a pawn shop.

Anything made of metal versus plastic will last longer. I've owned 3 Digitech multi-effects processors (RP6, RP2000 and now the BP-8), and several have been dropped and still run fine. Others have survived fires and still work as new.

I have tried the Zoom BFX708, which with my existing guitar and amp, was far too noisy due to a weak noise gate and general lower quality. The Line6 Bass POD was better, but not only was the sound quality dull, it would randomly start making popping noises during the middle of performances. I then exchanged the Bass POD for the BP-8 and found an immediate improvement in sound quality, reliability and consistancy.

Some people commented about the buttons needing a spring adjustment. This may have been fixed in the newer BP-8's, as mine does not exhibit any problems after over 2 weeks of 4-8 hours use.

I would, and already do, play with the BP-8 without a backup. And why not?

Never needed them.

I play everything from Christin worship music to heavy metal and everything inbetween. Keeping in mind that this is NOT a guitar, but a bass, the Digitech BP-8 is everything I paid for and more. Buy thism, and spend the money for a GOOD bass amp (with at least 2 12" or 1 15" speaker, and 150watts) and you will not be sorry.

I've been playing bass for about 5 years, and after 2 of which playing direct into combo amps, I bought the Nemesis I use now. 2 months ago, I started looking at bass effects processors, and as said, was quickly dissapointed with Zoom's quality, and Line6's Bass Pod's reliability. The Digitech BP-8 has not disappointed me in either area, and has actually excited me into playing even more often, and showcasing some of its features on stage during bass solos.

If it were stolen, I would be pissed, and reluctantly call upon insurance money to replace it, then track the thief down and make them regret my losing all the patches I worked so hard to create.

Suggestions to improve the BP-8:
1. 8-16 letter display for patch names and more verbose effects tweaking.
2. Like the RP2000, make the expression pedal able to be enabled or bypassed by pressing down on the toe.
3. Make the noise gate slightly less pronounced (let it fade out, not cut as the bass input signal fades.
4. MIDI interface, which could be used to transfer patches from either a Digitech repository or other DigiTech products to the BP-8 (ok, that's a stretch, but hey, it's a wish list!)

Of the 3 effects processors I have tried, the BP-8 blows the other two out of the water. Don't let the "Line6" name fool you like it did me, they are not perfect or the best. They're good, but not reliable. Likewise, don't let the name "Digitech" fool you into thinking your sound will be "digital" or fake. Use your amp for what it is, and use your effects processor for what it does best -- effects!

Go Digitech!

This Effects unit has the most effects I've ever used. Because of the quantity of effects and memory storage areas, it is a little overwhelming.(I had to eat my pride and read the manual).After using the manual it became easy to use.

The sounds are great for live, I dont know about studio. Like everything it adds a little bit of noise to the signal,...nothing to get upset about. I like to use the compressor, preamps(distortion), EQ, and sometimes a wah, but I stay away from delays, flange and chorus (All MUD in my opinion )although all the above are good effects. One thing I dont like is the time it takes to switch effects (around a tenth of a second) You have to press the pedal around one 16th note before to get the switch timing right. The EQ is a 4 band parametric. I'd rather a 9 pand graphic.

10 practices and 3 gigs so far and no trouble ( where is something made of wood to knock on ).If it failed in a gig I doubt the audience or the rest of the band would miss it ( no backup required it's just an effect unit ).

No experiences yet.Like most electronics i would anticipate a bad experience.

I was looking for a general purpose effects unit and thats what this is. I whould buy it again if lost or stollen,...If it failed and I got unsatisfactory support from both distributer and manufacturer I would go to the competition if they had something similar.

I still cannot figure it out.

Sounds like shit. The chorus makes the damn thing sound out of tune.Don't you think harmonizers should be in the same key?

Absolute shit. I am afraid to play on it anymore. I am serious. So far, the pedals have all broken off. The black electrical tape looks sooooo GOOD.

Busy signal-busy signal-busy signal............................................

I wish I would have died an hour before I purchased this beast. The box was cool, though.

pretty easy to use. except for the fact that i don't know how the hell to tweek preamp, eq, or compressor. maybe because i'm a dope.

you get pretty good sound. NOT. okay the phasers, and the wah's are pretty good, along with ONE Of the envelopes. flange. pitchshift, bunch of the envelopes. reverb? blow. i am so upset, i can't keep writing.

hell no. my wah pedal broke off. it always turns of if you touch the cable the wrong way. i mean seriously, the pedal CAME OFF

my warranty ran out, so...you know

DON'T BUY THIS. you could get an EH micro bass synth for this much damn money. i mean that in the best possible way. sorry digitech. i'm pissed

I bought the BP-8 and was very exited to use it. I got it home, hooked it up and started reading through the manual. Seemed hard to understand at first but it got easier. Then i started to fool around with some of the patches and shortly discovered that the #4 pedal and the enhancer pedal were broken. On certain patches it would send a surge through my SWR amp that soumded like the speakers were going to blow out. My thoughts for $379.00 i didn't want to deal with the crap so i took it back immeadiately for a full refund

It was broken from right out of the box

Didn't care..... as stated earlier for $379.00 ( a lot to me) i'm not going do deal with the hassels of trying to return it for another. I got my money back and am looking for another processor

It's kinda hard to figure out how to edit effects and create your own but it's so worth it if you take the time. I've messed with other pedals but none have the usefulness of this pedal. You can do super-static distorsion like Orgy or you can do awsome envelope filters like in the Chili Peppers. The manual makes understanding it easy if you take the time to read through it.

I have my BP8 hooked up to an Ampeg stack and this thing is perfect for it. It has great sound quality on alost every effect. I love the distorsion especially making my own sound. I have made this great effect where it sounds evil and distorted but has an auto wah funky kinda effect that makes it sound so bad... I love this thing, get to know it, because even if you don't like the presets then you can make virtually any bass sound you're looking for.

Always reliable. The only real problem is the power jack falls out alot... there's a little hook on the side that you can clip your cord to and since I've done that I have no problems, but if you don't clip it in prepare to look stuipid on stage.

I've never delt with them, but I've never had reason to

I play all kinds of stuff... I love Orgy and the Chili Peppers (I know that's kinda diverse...) I'm in a band where we sound like a tecno-evil coffee shop band. For any style it's great, it's EQ can handle anything your stack or bass is lacking (like too little mids)plus it has a built in tuner so you don't have to mess with cords in your setup, just push the button and tune away. The "Jam Along Jack" is a great thing too, if you have a hard time figuring out your favorite band's riff then plug in your cd player to the BP8 and it will play through your amp, so you can play right along with it making it super-easy to tell if you're hitting wrong notes. Even if you know exactly what you're playing that feature's great because, well, who wouldn't like to play along with their favorite band? I would definatly try this baby out if you're looking for a great effects pedal. The only feature this is lacking is some "drum machine" presets... you know, so you can play you're own stuff along with a beat. Oh well, anyone with a little bit of cash (or in my case, a keyboard player) can set a keyboard to do that.

It is colplicated in that there is alot of tinckering that goes on between effects, but if you give it a try and look at you manual making the sound you want is very easy. If you don't understand somthing the manual explaines it clearly, and the presets give you an idea of what to do?

the effects are very good in sound quality, for the mellow jazzy playing I do for fun, or the rock I play in a band the effects go from happy to death with just a flip of the presets

It's solid like a rock, all steel, with plastic buttons, I'd trust it on stage or anywhere, I've tacken it on trips, it holds up...

They have a very good web page, with a patch library, online manual you can download and print if you lost yours, and an explination of what thier pedal does, http://www.digitech.com

Easy to get great quality sounds. The pre-sets are mostly wild sounding and not very useful. However, with a wide range of adjustable sounds, I have found that less is more when developing your own sound. There are many superb sounds available if you take the time to search them out.

I play a Warwick Streamer Pro M through two SWR SM 400-S's with 2 SWR pro 15's and two Golitah Jr. III's running bridge mono from each amp. a BBE 362NR is in the effects loop of both amps with Contour and Process at 12:00, Noise Reduction threshold on max. and fast release. I replaced the BP-8's stock Sovtek 12AX7WA with a NOS Sylvania JAN 5751, it made a huge difference in improving the quality of the tone. In stereo mode the choruses are super lush and layered. The phase, flange, pan, bend, pitch, delays, reverb, and trem. become radically superior when plugged into two matching amp's and cab's. The Stereo feature of this pedal must be heard to be believed. When blend wet effected signal with with a dry signal via a Boss LS-2 and the possibilities multiply. For stereo use the BP-8 is beyond compare.

No problems. Bought mine used in clean condition and haven't had any problems. Steel case and pedal are built to take abuse. Plastic switches are reliable.

Haven't had to deal with the company. Owner's manual is lacking critical information to get the most out of a great product. Digitech's patch library web page seem's totally weak. Need to develop a cleaner way to collect and distribute patches.

Compared to other Bass multi-effects (Korg, Zoom) the BP-8 is in a class by itself. It may take some time to develop truly excellent tones, but there are plenty to be found. It the play-along jack and stereo headphone jack makes it a great practice tool. And you can look silly and wear light-weight headphones while playing through your amp and really hear your sound, with the band more in the back ground. This helps for rehearsal programming of new patches. The weakest effect are the fretless simulator.
By being smart and organized you can develop a indespensible tool.

Well, me and a friend messed around with it in the store figuring out how to use it, it seemed hard, but the guy at the counter said he had one and the manual helped, and sure enough, the manual did tell fairly effectively how to get sounds and stuff out of it and how to edit sounds, which I found to be pretty easy...the only problem is is that there are SO MANY parameters to think about, it's sort of difficult unless you know EVERYTHING about EVERY effect. As this was my first digital effect pedal, some of this was beyond me, so I played it by ear, but if you know a lot of stuff about digital effect modeling (or whatever the fuck you'd call it), you should have no problem. But it's tough to bypass, you have to hit two pedals at the same time! What the hell? Also, switching between effects while playing has a problem, read below.

I have an American standard Fender Jazz bass, and an American standart P-bass, running through an Ampeg rocketbass 100 BR-something (the ones that look like the old school Ampeg amps), and I get a pretty damn good sound clean. These effects are a mixed bag however. A lot of the presets are pretty lame, but there are some good ones, I like the most of the envelope filters, the "SVT Grit" distortion, and the whammy pedal is cool, but sounds lame when you're actually playing; I like to use it just to make the bass sound wierd by rocking the pedal back and forth. The harmonizer type thing is cool too. The chours is either really weak or waaaaay too muddy. The flangers and phasers both sounded the same to me, and didn't sound much like any flanger or phaser i'd ever heard. The octo-bass effects really only worked pretty much only if you played past the 10th fret on the G-string. The wah's are ok...I don't like the fact that the pedal is kind of shallow. I mean, I wasn't expecting a Vox type of pedal, but still, it's a pain. (by shallow I mean the distance between up and down is kind of small). And the preamps...well, they're not worth $379.99...I have a Boss bass overdrive pedal that gives me better distortion, but, as with everything, listen to it yourself. The BIG problem is that goddamn break in the signal everytime you switch to a different effect!!!! You're playing, and you want, say distortion, and you push the button and it sounds something like this "boom boom boom booo.........................boom boom boo boom." It SUCKS. You have to like hit the switch when you're NOT playing so the signal doesn't just stop, and THAT, to me, is unacceptable on a pedal costing damn near 400 bucks

I haven't gigged with it yet, but it seems solid enough. The only snag I can think of is that it gets awfully hot, even after using it for 30 minutes, but it IS a tube.

don't know

I play hard rock/metal/punk/jazz/funk, whatever, been playing for about 5 years, and this would work better if it didn't have that annyong break in the signal every time you switch effects. If it was stolen or lost I'd be pissed that I'm out some cash, but I'd probably buy another pedal. In fact, I'm gonna return mine. Overall, use your own ears.........I mean, I liked the sounds, but the ease of use left something to be desired.

Very easy to use. what a pity ther is not a complete lcd. The manual is not very good and it misses MIDI input/output

The tube means warm sound : very nice. It's the best multi-effect i bought. Really the preamp is fantastic
However, ther is toomuch noise on the outputs (fuck tube)

no problem, serious engineering

I would like a manual more complete, more concise

Very happy
I use it to play guitar. If i have not a guitar's true effect, it's very good

I BARELY READ THE MANUAL, FOR ME ITS EASIER FIGURE IT OUT BY MYSELF.
PRETTY SIMPLE

THE BEST EFFECTS I'VE EVER HEARD BUT I THINK THEY CAN DO MORE ABOUT THE DISTORTION

THIS THINGS IS SOLIDLY BUILT ITS BEEN 8 MONTHS OLD AND IT NEVER GAVE UP ON ME YET

NEVER CONTACT THEM YET

FOR MY OPINION I WILL GIVE IT A 9 OUT OF TEN

I love the bp-8 and basically everything about it but when i first bought it for $370, nothing worked. i called digitech that day and at 5:00pm on wednesday, no one picked up. needless to say i was pissed and took it into my own hands to fix the problem. i took it apart.
The guys at the tech. shop are a bunch of crack smoking junkies! even i could tell that the thing was messed up! the #4 pedal's spring was on the other side of the casing and was shorting out the tuner so if i hit the edit button, it showed the 440 freq. of the tuner. guess what. Even i fixed the frickin' thing! my brand new board came without a warranty. thats right, no warranty in the box. the manual doesn't instruct, it just specifically shows the user the features.

the only things that suck on the bp-8 are the distortion and expression pedal. The pedal is a bit better but its so stiff and the angle is deeper and more uncomfortable than the crybaby 105Q i have. the tube just flat out blows monkey sh*t. it has no tinker factor and the tube is so frickin' hissy, the sounds of my beautiful rickenbacker 4001 can't get through! the chorus is okay but a little weak. if you turn up the effect, it gets too mushy.

my last processor was an ibanez ps-5 processor and if i had a nickel for everytime that thing bombed out on me....when i got the bp-8 i thought it was going to mess up or something so i was very careful but when i saw my guitar instructor THROW it on the ground and it worked like a charm, i've been kickin' the crap outta' that thing since and it sounds like new!

their hours plain and utterly suck!!!!!!! they are a bunch of lazy motherf*ckers

I play everything starting with funk, prog-rock, expressionism(Background music for the amazing mr. Bickford: Frank zappa's claymation artist), etc. this pedal does all i need but if you don't have electronic experience(i.e.-putting a spring on a plastic button) don't buy this. if you do, you probably have more experience than the engineers at digitech. this pedal does everything i need it to do but i bought a boss syb-3 bass synth. just to keep all my options open. if you have the cash and if you can handle the belief you've been ripped off(im not saying you will but just in case), and the theory "nothing ventured, nothing gained" this pedal should be checked out.

This unit is nice and easy to use. After quick read through of the instruction manual, anybody with half a brain can customize their own effects. The manual, contrary to popular belief, is actually very helpful.

I use this with a Carvin stack, and I'd have to s ay that my setup brings out every nuance of the processor, and I'm very happy with it. I play mostly Jazz. In other reviews people have complained about how the effects lack somewhat but seriously, as a bass player, do you want your flange to sound like a jet flying overhead or do you want it subtle for the effect? This is a processor with actual useful effects, not a toy to screw around with to get fun sounds. I think digitech has done a very good job programming in USEFUL effects for bass palyers. All the effects retain the low end needed to carry the band. Others have complained about the noise from the unit. Althoguh it is not totally silent, the noise from my unit is minimal and cannot be noticed when playing at any significant volume level. I like all of the effects on this unit. In particular, the preamps and compressor are very pragmatic for the average bass player, and there is a great selection of other effects, all of which I like except the fretless simulator. If you want to play a fretless bass, buy one, don't use the simulator on this processor.

Rugged, reliable, I've use it on several gigs and have never had any problems.

I have never contacted the company.

I play jazz, or pretty much anything. All the effects are great and for the price this is the best thing out there. Unless you're going to invest several hundred dollars more to buy a rack setup, t his is the way to go. It is great for direct recording as well. Overall this thing rocks, and if it were lost or stolen I would definitely buy it again.

Programming and editing on the BP-8 is just about as easy as any other floor processor that i've used or tinkered with. Some of the organization of the effect were kind of confusing at first, but easy to get used to quickly. The manual is a vague piece of shit as with most musical equipment like amps, so you just have to play around and find something you like

I use an Ibanez Soundgear 405 and 506 with a Peavey T-MAX head and Peavey 4X10 cab and a Carvin 1X18 cab. The BP-8 isn't the best thing in the world but with the equipment i use i can get pretty much the sound i want out of it(on the clean channel) I didn't notice too much noise until i used it for recording but even then with the noisegate and eq set right, it should be minimal and not too bad. As far as the rest of the effects go, the chorus and delay seem ok, the flange is weak (had a Boss ME-6B that had a badass flanger)the wah is mediocre and the distortion is ok. The whammy makes the bass sound like it's fake. I can get what I want out of most of the effects, you just have to know how to set them right. My biggest complaint is the delay when switching patches, its cuts the signal. They were supposed to fix that but i guess they didn't. I figure i got what I paid for so none of the effects really suck or are really spectacular.

I use it at every gig without a backup and have been able to depend on it every time. But i play every show without backups for anything. Good metal casing looks like it can be dropped without too much damage except for the tube. Hasn't f*cked up on me yet.

No clue

For a bunch of effects in one box and for the price I think it's a good deal. I've been playing metal for about 8 years and it's the second effects processor I've owned(the Boss ME-6B being my first which was stolen)For under $400 I like it, but if iI had more money would have probably looked for something else. If it were stolen I'd try to phase out effects altogether, or at least processors, so no i wouldn't buy it again, I'm not made of money I'm a musician dammit.
Drawn Under
http://go.to/drawnunder
www.mp3.com/drawnunder

At first, the matrix display for creating and editing effects on the BP-8 may seem intimidating, but in fact it is very easy to use.
The manual isn't especially impressive, but I believe it does a satisfactory job of helping the user start out. Perhaps my review of the BP-8's manual isn't as harsh as most of the others because I don't have many manuals to compare it to.

I play an Ibanez SR485 (5 string) with a Crate 25 watt bass amp, and often use the direct headphone output also.
For me, noise problems have a lot to with the effects. The noise gate is effective, and for the most part the unit is quiet. However, the phaser and flanger effects have a substantial flaw: rather than melding the dry signal from your bass with these effects, the two sounds seem to be running parallel to each other. Almost all of the time I hear my un-modulated bass under a noisy flanged or phased wave; they seem to be almost completely independent of each other. You may not notice it at first, but trust me, after a while you'll notice how weak these effects sound compared to other units.
As for the other effects: I can't really hear a noticeable difference between when the notch filter is on or off; the distortion is VERY unimpressive; the wah is somewhat weak (same goes for the envelope filter); really nice compressor, chorus, tremolo, and whammy; decent pitch shifter; okay octabass and a fretless simulator that sucks my sweaty nutsack. I really liked the convenient Jam-along-Jack feature.

It seems to be fairly rugged, sporting a steel case and sturdy expression pedal. I'm not so sure about the plastic footpedals, though...

I have never contacted Digitech; I've always settled stuff like that with the guys at GuitarCenter (some of the nicest guys in the business).

I play a lot of different styles, from Incubus (the best band in the universe) to Rage to the Chili Peppers to Radiohead. I've been playing for about a year.
If I lost it, I'd definitely buy something else, probably that DOD Bass30 pedal - I've only played with it once but it sounds great - or if I had the bucks I'd get separate stompbox effects.
I really like it's ease to edit and basically operate, and its Jam-along-Jack feature; my biggest nags are for the distortion, phaser/flanger, envelope filter, and fretless simulator.

This is actually a decent pedal. I liked the idea of a all-in-one solution for bass effects. For all intended purposes, it's made me very happy since I got it. But puuullleeaase! The unit cost me over 400 bucks, and promised "studio quality" effects. Bullsh*t! Now that other multiple bass effects processors are starting to arise from different companies, I'm sure this unit will be obsolete six month from now. Don't buy it! Get somethin' cheaper that sounds better - it shouldn't be that difficult.

Standard pedal stuff if you know pedals you will easily figure it out

some usable stuff but not a total package. the compression is usable, the two of the ten preamps are ok and the wah is decent

I have a problem with the power supply staying in the unit while I am on stage. Also was broken in a flight and have not had it back to the original condition yet.

I think this department sucks. I lost the power cord at a gig and was charged $39.00 (should be a $12.00 item)for a replacement. Because it is not a standard power supply it is not possible to purchase any other. Also, they will not give out diagrams of the board's electronics so I had to pay some technician a rediculous fee to replace a chip and some LEDs. I will never buy digitech again because of the cost of their replacement parts and their lack of concern for their consumers

Digitech sucks.

This is a fairly intuitive unit. The display leaves much to be desired (especially when compared to similar units designed for guitar...RP-10, 12...etc.) All the presets are over blown, but that's to be expected. With some tinkering you can get a good sound out of it, but not all the effects are useable. The manual is a joke. (period)

I used this effect with a Ibanez SR-885 and an SR-505, running though a SWR Bass-350 and an Ampeg 8x10 cab. This is a very low noise rig, that is, until you add the BP-8. With the noise gate off, this unit produces a discernable hiss. The noise gate killed this, but still. The effects are hit or miss. The compressor is pretty decent, the distortion is crap, the chorus is nice, the flange is acceptable (analog is the way to go with flange)...

I don't like a floor unit with a tube in it. Too easily broken...
Okay...here's where the rant begins.
I purchased the unit and within 3 weeks of rehearsal it went down...the headset out and the main out both began to produce a horrible distorted sludge. No signal, just buzz.
I took it back and was assured that I would recieve the unit in 3 weeks.
3 weeks later I got it back and...

None of the footswitches had been replaced correctly. Sure the outs worked, but none of the footpedals did. <>
I promptly returned the unit for a full refund and bought some straight Electro Harmonix effects. (The don't break.)

I play everything from funk to metal to jazz and I think that this could be (presuming it worked) a good all-in-one unit. For those on a tight budget I think it represents a good solution, but if you can afford better, get better. If this unit had been stolen, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble.
I love the compressor on this unit, but I hate nearly everything else about it. I didn't compare it with other units as I had previously believe that Digitech made the best multi-effects in this price range.
I had to play clean for 3 gigs because of this unit (not the worst thing in the world, but inconvenient certainly). This unit is a cheap piece of crap and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
You've been warned.

Moving around the pre-sets is as simple as anything. Having been shown how to use other multi-effects pedals by friends and in shops, I found it pretty easy to start messing around with the factory settings, which is something I did pretty soon after getting the pedal as most of them are either poor or over the top (this seems to be a problem with most multi-effects). The manual is easy to understand, but doesn't go into nearly enough detail, and it sometimes takes a bit of experimenting to find out what each setting for each effect actually does.

I use an Ibanez SR885 5-string,usually through a Fender BX300C 300-watt combo, though I often have to use other peoples amps live (it depends which band is supplying them). Before I bought the Digitech, I had a Boss bass overdrive pedal and a DOD stereo flanger. When I first got it,I tried to re-create the sounds I'd been getting from my old pedals, and ran into a couple of problems. Firstly, I wasn't too impressed by the distortion sounds on the Digitech. The 'dark' distortion just wasn't dark and nasty enough for my tastes, and the saturated and overdriven sounds weren't clear or distinct enough. However, after playing around with the EQ and gain levels for ages, I managed to get some satisfying sounds with all 3 distortions, and with my Boss turned on as well things sound better than ever. I also found the flanger sounded quite different from my DOD pedal, a little more electronic, but again with plenty of fiddling I got the sound I wanted. I can also use the other Modulation effects (chorus, phaser, envelope filter etc.,all of which sound good) instead of just flanger all the time, which was getting pretty boring. I was most impressed by the tube amp sounds which make my clean sound a lot fatter and warmer when I want it to be, though the pitchshifter and octabass effects are a little disappointing. Perhaps it's because I'm downtuned a step, but I can hardly here the octabass unless i'm playing above the 12th fret on my top 2 strings. There are a lot of effects available on this pedal, and almost all of them can be made to sound excellent, it just takes a little experimentation to get the best out of them.

The metal casing makes this pedal seem pretty sturdy, although i sometimes worry about dropping it and the vacuum tube breaking. It gets pretty hot when it's turned on, but this doesn't seem to matter. The bank pedals also feel a bit like you could kick them off if you really tried, but I've had no real problems in the couple of months i've had it. The only trouble i've had is accidentaly turning myself off with the expression pedal on volume control, but i've learned my lesson now.

I've never had to deal directly with the company so far. You get a warranty card which you have to send of within 10 days of purchase/receipt, but the card and all of the warranty statements all seem geared towards American customers,so I wasn't sure whether they'd all apply to me (a UK customer). There is a kind of helpdesk on the DigitechUS web-site, but i'm not sure how often it's updated.

I play in a pretty heavy band, but I'm not necessarily going for a classic metal sound. If I was I think I'd be disappointed with the Digitech, considering it's price, because of relatively poor distortion sounds. As it is, I like to experiment and vary my sound for different songs, and this pedal allows me to do that. The Digitech has more effects than the other pedals I have tried (Boss, Korg, Zoom), and on the whole I prefer the sounds it makes. You can make some outlandish noises with it if you really want to, but the individual effects on their own can also be extremely effective. I have used it live, and felt comfortable using it straight away, before the end of the first song. It is more expensive than the competition, but I knew that if I went for one of the cheaper pedals it would be a compromise rather than a decision.

This thing SUX. I highly recommend buying a different unit for this price. The delay and the modulator isn't that good but the reverb and the expression pedal is pretty good. The manual sucks even more than the pedal, because its too hard to understand!

I have an Ibanez EDC 705 Ergodyne Bass (5 strings!) and thie sound quality is very poor. My friend has the ZOOM bass pedal and that thing only costs $100 and that thing sounds better. But the compressor and the reverb are very good.

Well I have had my thing for about 5 weeks, but the only reason I kept it was because I hoped that i'd get used to it and like it. But it hasn't broken yet. Its very solid.

Don't know.

Like I said, this thing has a few good features, but has more bad features than good. This thing is far too overpriced for what it is. I play the heavy rock. From Sound Garden to Primus (the bassist from Primus is awesome!!). This thing isn't very good for the price or for the sound quality.

It's very easy to use, as you'll see in other digitech comments, their matrix is quick to learn and makes it really easy to modify effects. Also, the set-up of the foot pedals makes it quite easy to switch between effects during a song. However, it's not perfectly easy because the manual leaves something to be desired. It tells you the basics, but this thing does a ton of stuff, much of which many people like myself are not familiar with. I think digitech expects that you'll just play around to get the sound you want. Once again playing around is easy, and that's what I've done. There is just so much on this thing though that it took me about three months to get completely comfortable with all the functions and memorize my programs. The best way to organise I've come up with is to put a single effect on each bank (i.e. envelope filters or phasers) and then have standard variations (i.e. number 1 is always the standard, #2 cleaner, #3 trippier, etc.)

Alright, I'm not using the best equipment with this thing. I've got a Peavey split-coil bass (P-style pick up) and a no name Gibson-style single coil bass (J-style pick up) going into a Peavey basic 60 bass amp and a Peavey Rage guitar amp (I only turn the guitar amp on for stereo effects). But, this thing makes my stuff sound great!!! I'm sounding good even on mediocre equipment thanks to the BP-8. Some effects have noise, of course, but it's got a good noise gate (and a notch filter) on it, and even without the noise gate it's quiter than D.O.D. or BOSS pedals , and quiter than all the other multi-effects I've played with. Alot of this is probably because this thing is designed for Bass (and believe me bass players don't mess with anything else-it's amazing the difference when you switch to a processor made for your instrument) Generally the sounds are extremely smooth and nice, also you can layer a lot of 'em on without making it too muddy. Features: This thing has features out the wazoo!! Everything you'll possibly need is here. It's got Bass synthesizers, single and multi-tap delays, tons of reverbs, tube and solid state distortion, noise gate, compression, equilizer, Wah-Wah (these are really good), Phaser (Good, but I still like BOSS superphaser more), Envelope Filters (a ton and all of 'em excellent), Tremolo, Chorus, Flanger (this is also really good), autopanner, pitch shifter, whammy, you name it, this thing can do it. It even has an effect that emulates the sound of bowing on a contrabass (surprising good). And, they all sound really good. I play funk (including slap-bass) and trippy bass and usually take the lead in my band (Guitarists don't always have to be in the spotlight). This is great for soloing out or laying down a groovy rhythm, also the built in expression pedal can be linked to most of the parameters (not just wah-wah) to let you modify your effects on the fly. I have been able to replicate many sounds from Phish, Ekoostik Hookah, Sly & the Family Stone, & P-Funk. The one warning I have to give is that if you don't have the noise gate set just right it can cut off your sound, with experience this problems dissappears. I use the sound modulation stuff heavily, but I don't use the distortion much. I just don't like distorted bass, from what I can tell it's good, and I'm very happy with the tube pre-amp stuff, but I never play metal, so I'm probably not the best person to rate the distortions. In the end, this has been an absolute delight sound-quality wise. It sounds better than any of my pedals and much better than the rack-units I have tried. Hands down the best of the multi-effects I've seen. Bass players should jump at this thing. There are so few good bass effects out there. This one sounds great, does everything you can imagine, and is fairly affordable.

I have no money for a back up, so yes I would use it on a gig without a backup. It's been extremely reliable so far. No ploblems at all. It's made of metal and is much sturdier than almost any other multi-effect I've seen (which are often plastic), including the wah-wah (much more reliable than a cry-baby). Seems tough, but just to be safe I don't pound on it or drop it or anything like that. As I've said I got no money to replace it, so somebody else can perform those tests

Never dealt with them, but watch out, You've got to send in the registration within 10 days of purchase (or receipt if mail order) for your Warranty to take effect. I didn't read this part of the manual until about day 8 and almost lost my warranty. I've heard they're okay to deal with

I compared this to the tec8, the Korg multi-effects, all the Alesis & Lexicon rack-mounts, Zoom crap, DOD Boss & Ibanez pedals, and this was far and away the best I've seen for the price. I researched for about 2 months before buying it, as far as I could tell this is the best value for bass players on the market. Surf the net for the best price - get quotes. I know the place I got mine from still sells them this cheap (List is $550.00, I got mine new for less than 1/2 that). If it was stolen I'd buy it again as soon as I could scrape the money together. I love mine. For better info., download the manual off of www. digitech.com I'd be interested in trading patches for this with people, please don't ask me questions though (only useful e-mail please)