DigiTech Control X

Really easy to use. The manual is a little simplified but it actually has all of the information that I have needed so far.

I don't think that I'm going to offer a rating for this category because there is really no way that this can effect the sound quality. Although I will say that patch changes are silent. Big plus. On second thought, for that reason I am going to give it a 9.

Metal chassis. Feels solid. I think it will last. Although I'm a little concerned about the V-Switch that is used to toggle the wah. It is fairly new technology I guess, so you never know.

This is where this company shines. The one I bought didn't come with a DIN cable because I bought it off of Ebay. I emailed them and asked them where I could purchase one and what exact cable I would need and one of their tech guys actually dropped it off at my house for FREE.(I live near the production plant) It doesn't get any better than that.

Overall, I am very happy with this product. Ordinarily I would give this product an overall rating of 9 but their superior customer service demands that I give it a 10.

The Control X will very quickly improve your capabilities in using the Genesis 3 which it was made for. Straight out of the box it is very easy to use and figure out using some of the built in presets of the Genesis 3 that exploit the use of the expression pedal. Customizing your own sounds and assigning different effects to the pedal is best done using GenetX software on your computer, and there is a learning curve there...and don't expect any help from the "manual" that ships with the Control X. (The manual is all of 5 pages) There is much more information on how to customize presets for your pedal in the Genesis 3 manual, however don't expect to find reference to everything there either.

In summary, documentation leaves a lot to be desired, unless you just plan on using the factory presets on your Genesis 3.

Here's a hint that you won't find in any of the documentation;
You can assign up to three effects to the expression pedal for each preset. There isn't a way to change which of the three effects the pedal uses. If you assign the Wammy for example to the first pedal effect for example, then if you assign a reverb level control to effect 2...both effect will be controlled at the same time and there is no way to turn one of them off, which sucks. However if you assign chorus effects such as flanger or tremelo to the pedal you can toggle it on and off by the chorus on and off stomp on your pedalboard. :) The same can be done to delay effects you might assign to the pedal, because there is a delay stomp that turns delay on and off on the pedalboard. This means that you can actually "toggle" through effects assigned to the pedal in this roundabout way.

I'm using the Control X with my Genesis 3, my guitar is a strat and i play through a Jackson 50 watt 2x12 tube amp. There are a few of the effects that don't transition smoothly with the expression pedal. One is the Phaser, which is a bummer because it's an effect I would really like to exploit by being able to use the pedal with it. Most of the effects sound great, and the transition from presets and from red to green or warp channels is smooth and fast. I've been able to emulate many of my favorite artists sounds much better with the Control X than I had been able to with the Genesis 3 alone. The Whammy is great, as is the Flanger. You can set up your sounds in soundbanks within the Genesis 3 in a logical way so that you are able to transition among several effects very quickly. There is a stomp assigned to each preset of the current "bank" you are in, so for example when I play a Tool song that uses a Flanger, Whammy and uses both a clean and distorted guitar sound I can transition between any of them by hitting one single stomp. Very cool! Then if my next song uses different settings, I can instantly move to the next "bank" and I have 3 new customized settings at my disposal. Honestly, using the Genesis 3 without the Control X is like owning a Ferrari with a speed governer set on 75 mph, sure it's cool, but you can't open it up and really take advantage of it's intended function.

Since I have had this unit for a short time, I really can't judge accurately on reliability. I can say that I have confidence in Digitech product reliability, and I would dare say that the Control X won't disappoint me. It is a very solid unit, with a metal casing that stays put on the ground. There are times when you turn on the Genesis 3 and the LED on the Control X display says Er and doesn't respond. So far just resetting the Genesis 3 once has worked to fix it, so it doesn't appear to be a problem.

I have never had to deal with Digitech, however they have a lot of information available on their website. Their user forum is a great way to get support, it's usually from peers, however many times you will see Digitech engineers respond to questions which is very cool. I feel confident that Digitech would treat me right if I were to need to turn to them.

If you use the Genesis 3 and want to gig, I'm guessing you already own the Control X. I can't imagine trying to gig without this pedalboard. The cool thing about using the Genesis 3 with the Control X is that if you spend the time to customize your soundbanks and pedal expression, you really can do just about everything and not depend on many more pedals. I use a seperate volume pedal in conjunction with the Control X, that's all! I play mostly metal, I can play Tool and Rage stuff and do pretty good at emulating their sounds after having customized my presets on my Genesis 3. I've been playing guitar for 3 years now, and since I bought my electric and Genesis 3 a year and a half ago I haven't put my guitar down. The Control X has only added to this obsession. If I lost my Control X, I would buy another...unless my Genesis 3 was stolen with it, then I would buy the GNX3 which is basically what I have now plus a digital 8 track recorder all in one unit. (costs around $500) I have about $450 into my Genesis 3 and Control X, so I would recommend it if you already own a Genesis 3, otherwise you would be crazy to not get the GNX3 instead. I've heard of people using midi pedals with their Genesis 3, I've heard a lot of people gripe about the price of this unit but it was worth the price to me. There is a learning curve to use the Control X, I can't imagine having to program a midi pedal to work with the Genesis 3 on top of everything else. Spend just a little more and save yourself the hassle, the Control X was made specificaly for the Genesis 3 and I highly recommend it. If you own a Genesis 3 buy it,there is no excuse not to. If you don't have the money, pawn your dad's lawnmower and buy it.

For anybody else that owns the control x and wishes to share patches, contact me at my email address.