DigiTech EX-7 Expression Factory

The hardware for this pedal uses a standard design that Digitech use for many of their pedals. As such, it is not designed specifically for this product, and it shows. It is a very unintuitive product to use, to the point where unless you are willing to thoroughly read the manual you will never get the most out of this product. There are too few knobs to comfortably use, and the pressure required to switch the thing on and off is phenomenal.

Very poor design. Forget pick up and play with this sucker.

Also, there is almost no travel whatsoever in the pedal itself. Other people have mentioned this, but I didn't realise how bad it was. There must be about a centimetre (half-inch) worth of travel in the pedal. At first I thought mine was faulty, but that's all you get.

Sound quality for me was disappointing. The first problem is that many of the effect models are not going to be used: the Whammy, for example, is a niche product. And why two wah wah effects?

The distortion models are fine, once you figure out how to use them.

My overall problem with the sound was that through my amp it sounded pretty rough. I'm returning my pedal largely because the sound quality is disappointing, though that may have more to do with my amp than the pedal itself. The jury's out, but I just don't like it.

Solidly built, but the power cut out on me a couple of times when adjusting settings. That shouldn't happen!

Major problems with this pedal include the poor interface which is extremely nasty. It comes as no suprise that you will have to fork out for another pedal in order to make adjustments properly - something that should have been built in.

Also, a lot of the features are niche products. Two Wah Wah models are unnecessary, and a strange choice. The Whammy setting is useless to man or beast. It has a reasonably nice uni-vibe, but the Leslie was almost impossible to tell it was switched on. I like the Space Station effect, but only as a novelty. And a flanger? Again, a somewhat niche effect that many will never use. A decent chorus effect would have been better, but was omitted presumably to make room for one of the wahs. Strange decisions that do not appear to have gone through even the simplest check for usefulness. Had Digitech carried out a focus group survey amongst potential users, they would not have put on many of the effects they have.

Bear in mind that the distortion effects cannot be used without first applying an expression effect, making this useless if you want to use it primarily as a distortion box. I suspect this was deliberately done to make you fork out for their seperate distortion pedal.

I'm returning this product, and good riddance. I'm sure if I gave it a chance I could grow to like it, but its too difficult to use and has too many unusable effects on it for me to feel it is good value. I'm sorry, but its got to go.

One final point: these effects can't be chained, making this a one-effect, one-distortion unit. For ??150, I want a little more value for money. And on the point of money, I've seen this sold for the equivalent of ??100 on US web pages. I had to look around to find mine for ??150 in the UK, which shows UK customers are getting ripped off something painful.

My advice: do yourself a favour and buy Boss every time.

Let me say this first. If you are of limited mental acuity, do not buy this pedal. You'll be forever frustrated with it. If you have an ounce of intelligence, you'll understand it in no time flat. As I am (apparently) intelligent, I've got to grips with it fine. Anyone who complains about it needs to step back and read the damn manual- that's what it's there for, and it is very useful.

Spend some time with it before passing judgement. I got mine today, and spent 45 minutes with it, mumbling things like, "How does that work?", "Oh... right...", "Jeez, that's nasty" and "Whoa!".

This pedal is insane. You just have to love it. I got it for the Whammy option, mainly. And to be honest, you might as well buy it instead of a Whammy. You get everything- octave up, octave down, octave up AND down, octave down-down-down, octave running around naked. It's perfect for nailing a Morello sound, but be prepared to get to grips with the short travel. Once you get used to that, perfect.

The XP-300 setting is beautiful, weird, ballistic and just plain worth it. It sounds ethereal, to say the least, and is a great reason to get this pedal. Some of the sounds you can get are really off-the-wall, particularly if you couple it with some distortion...

The wahs I couldn't really tell the difference between, and purists will soon get frustrated with the limited travel action on the pedal. It's something you really need to get used to, but for now- I'll keep my Cry Baby in my rig.

The Uni-Vibe is awesome. What a warm, spacious and airy sound. It's truly stunning, and you can get a great 'Breathe' sound out of it, just like the manual says. Not good for modern chorus sounds, such as Paradise City, but spend some time with it and I'm sure you can pull something out of it worth using.

The Leslie is a pretty cool sound, but rotaries aren't really my bag. Speak to someone who cares.

The flange setting is whacked. I accidentally tripped the expression pedal whilst it was on, and mother of God it went weird. Totally cool, but a real wild card if you're not expecting it.

In a nutshell...

- Buy this pedal for the Whammy and XP-300 effects.
- Once you've gotten bored of those, move onto the Uni-Vibe and A/DA flanger.
- Mess about with the wah sounds, but don't spend time on them if you're the type who angers easily.

It's sure built tough. I would never gig it if I wanted to use more than one effect (not without the footswitch, anyway). Solidity is the key to this pedal, you could batter someone to death with it. Not the best thing for a pedal that can frustrate easily.

I haven't dealt with them, and don't plan to.

This pedal is just awesome if you're a bit of an experimental player who hasn't found their 'sound' yet, or someone looking to expand their rig with some truly messed-up sounds. It's already given me new outlooks, and is worth buying for the Whammy and XP-300 alone.

If you're a tonehound, look elsewhere- this pedal is a compromise. Not a dedicated machine. It's a bit like buying a BMW M3- you can get the performance of a Ferrari, but with the multi-tasking ability of carrying shopping, kids, and the other dreary paraphernalia of real life. This pedal is just like that.

If you buy it, then think carefully- ??150 is a lot to blow on something you might not use- but I think it's worth it. Particularly as you are getting some very good sounds for not much dough.

This review is solely for people interested in the "Synth Swell" feature of the EX-7. I own both the original Space Station and the EX-7 and am supplying what is hopefully the most in-depth comparison.

The Ex-7 suffers from a variant of the problems associated with the original Space Station regarding the Synth Swell feature. Both pedals lack an effective way of blending the synth sound with the original signal. The Space Station, except for one setting, used the expression pedal as a synth volume pedal. So, your sound was heavily processed by the synth sound and your original guitar sound was gone. You had to use a splitter to blend the unaltered sound in. Frustrating!

The EX-7 does the same thing! Unbelievable! You turn the synth sweep on, and bye-bye guitar sound. I was hoping that the expression pedal would act as a blend between guitar and synth, but no. It either is synth volume, or controls the amount of the envelope generator (which controls how quickly the effect begins) used in the sound.

The envelope generator itself is a piece of crap. I have multiple Digitech boxes, they build the worst envelope generator of anybody I know. It is very hard to control with the volume pedal and mis-triggers so easily it almost is useless. When it mis-triggers you get a very irritating fixed rhythmic echo that goes "ba-ba-binga" with your original sound. You can't switch this echo out, either.

On the positive side, the EX-7 has a control that was not available on the original Space Station. It allows you to blend chorus with the selected synth interval (octave, 4th, etc.) on a variable basis. This is a welcome improvement.

In the end, I have to give this product a low rating for ease of use for Synth Swell because it requires external equipment (splitters, envelope generators, etc.) to use it effectively.

For many people who loved the original Space Station, this is the bottom line: how well does it emulate the original Space Station Synth Swell? If you haven't heard Synth Swell, it is a very surprising effect. It is like a metallic orchestra playing in an ice-skating rink. It is incredibly hard to duplicate with other devices. I know, I've tried... I've used pitch shifters with echos, choruses, on and on, and never been able to nail that sound with anything else. Personally, I find the sound to be too over the top unless it is blended in very delicately. This is why I have always had to use splitters and so forth to tame the sound. It is too weird and intense for me until it is blended in carefully.

But, oh, when it is blended in right... it is magic! It gives the guitar a dreamy, other worldly far-away sound, like from a different time and place. That's why I love the effect.

The EX-7 is best described as "inspired by" the original Space Station rather than saying it sounds exactly like it. The Space Station has more of a mashed and compressed sound, and swells up in ways that the EX-7 doesn't do. I put an external envelope generator (a Guyatone Slow Volume) in front of the EX-7, and that improved it quite a bit. It sounded much closer to the original. But there you go again, having to solve its lacks with external processing gear.

As I mentioned earlier, the unit inserts a rhythmic echo at all times. The Space Station masked this through its mish-mash of other effects, so that you got a sheet of sound whenever it triggered. The EX-7 doesn't work this way, with the result being that you get a boinging echo which triggers even when the synth part isn't playing. I really don't like this at all. This is again the result of Digitech's poorly-designed envelope generator on the front end of the effect.

So, the bottom line on sound is this: Out of the box, the effect is similar to but not equal to the original Space Station. If you add external gear to manage it, it comes very close. Plus, it has the chorus/interval blend, which is nice.

The pedal is pretty heavy and tough. I wonder about the types of switches they put into it over the long haul

Again, I am evaluating only the Synth Swell feature versus the original Space Station. It is the only modern pedal you can buy that comes close to reproducing the Synth Swell sound. If you don't feel like shelling out $300 for a used Space Station on eBay, this is the only game in town. I can't use the sound without splitting it and blending it back in. I hate Digitech's envelope generator, and will use the Guyatone in front of this pedal at all times. So, instead of one device I now have to use three. If Digitech had designed this a bit better, it could have been a killer effect, well worth a rating of 10. As it is, I give it a 6.

I really wish it didn't make me start with the bad, but I suppose it's good to get it out the way. Ease of use is where this pedal falls short of my expectations. I like to consider myself a bit of gear freak and I'm still yet to find any effects pedal or processor that I can't get my head around, but occasionally, the EX-7 does puzzle me a bit. It's not terribly bad however and it certainly could be worse, but with a bit more time spent on the design of the interface, DigiTech could have taken the market for this pedal by storm. Things like having to hold the pedal down in different positions and in different modes to access many of the manual controls really let the EX-7 down. Having said that, when you're not in need of manual alterations such as changing distortion types and such, simply getting a sound out of it couldn't be much simpler. My cat could get a sound out of it... if she was heavy enough to actually press down and switch the effects on!

The only remaining bone I have to pick is with the amount of force needed to fully depress the pedal. I am a real lightweight at only 125lbs, but even when I put all my weight onto one foot and stand on the toe of the pedal, it still occasionally doesn't switch! You really have to slam on this thing to get it to work! What's even harder is when you have to hold the toe switch down for 3 seconds to choose the distortion type. If I can't get it to stay depressed at all, how am I gonna get it to stay down for three seconds? I can't just get a fat roadie on stage everytime I want to change distortion type!

Anyway, I hope in time, the pedal will loosten up and become easier to use in that sense.

Before you read on, remember; it's only $180 worth of kit. As much as DigiTech try to market it by saying things like "$3000 worth of effects for less than $300!" it is never likely to compare to the original effects that it models. The Cry-Baby wah is very good. I tend to keep the frequency range on it quite tight so my sound is only slightly affected. This works well for blues and lighter rock. If you open the range up a bit, it can become a bit to "experimental" for my liking and not "popular-sounding" enough to make it into any of my recordings. The Vox wah is essentially the same really except there's a little more edge to the high frequencies and the lower frequencies are cut. This is what I'd use to replicate sounds from the likes of Hendrix. Like the cry baby model, if you open the range up, it all gets a little wishy-washy, but for 99% of situations, it's very good. The Whammy effect... amazing. My only problem with it is how the blazes do I encorperate that into my music??? I mean, I've touched on prog. rock and tht sort of Genesis/Yes/ELP stuff, and for those things, occasionally the all out experimentalism of the prog. rock genre enables you to get away with using this effect, but I'd probably never find a use for it in the Blues/Indie genre I usually play. Regardless however, it is great fun to play around with! The Uni-Vibe effect is really nice. This is something I could use in my music. Nice and spacious. Good for rhythym and solos. Especially good when combined with a tonne of distortion! The Leslie speaker effect also works a treat. Believe it or not, I ran the EX-7 through my keyboard with this patch and it worked just as well for the organ sounds on my keyboard. Certainly better than the Leslie models on my keyboard. Flanger is great aswell. Not the sort of effect I'd use on a regular basis, but it's good to whip out every now and then. Now, the space station... I would never try and bring this to the front of a recording because the sound quality of it, if you get a good listen to it, is not very good. But it's a great substitute for a keyboard-synthesised orchestra; and it works well, providing you keep it in the background.

The distortions are average. Some I like, some I don't. The Muff Pi model I like. The Boss and Digitech metal sounds however, I don't like. This is possibly because no matter how hard I try, I can't make them work in my music... but who can blame me? I'm trying to put a metal distortion into a blues song. It's never going to work! I would not use these distortions instead of my amplifier distortion, but maybe as a booster if I ever needed to.

While I'm on the topic of distortion; my biggest problem with this pedal is that you can't turn off the effect and leave the distortion on. The Boss V-Wah lets you do this and that factor very nearly made me buy one of those instead. I'm glad I didn't though.

Purely from the weight of the box, I knew this pedal wasn't going to be a pushover. It's solid. All metal. I wreckon I could drop a brick on it from a third story window and it would still work. I am not going to do that though! Do you think they cover that on the warranty?!

None needed... yet.

As you may have gathered, I play blues primarily, like Clapton and Rory Gallagher. I also write some prog rock songs every so often and Indie/Britpop stuff frequently aswell. This pedal has some sounds that are pure gold like the Uni-Vibe which I could apply to almost anything and make it work. It also has some sounds that will work for certain genres, like the whammy effect only being able to work in experimental prog rock. I got rid of my Zoom GFX-5 as the sound quality simply wasn't up to it. I feel I have made an improvement in that department. For the money, this pedal is very good. Could be better, but good nonetheless.

The only other option if you're looking for this sort of pedal is the Boss V-Wah. I turned it down because it lacked the versitility of the EX-7. If you're specifically looking for a wah sound, go for the Boss V-Wah because it's $100 cheaper! But if like me you want something more versitile, it's worth spending the extra on the EX-7.

This pedal has some great sounds, and it's a little complicated, but for the most part, I put all the knobs at 12 o'clock and got a pretty decent sound out of all 7 models. The main problem I had with this pedal is trying to turn it on and off. You switch it on and off by pressing the expression pedal all the way forward, like a wah pedal, except this switch was super iffy, I didn't know when it would work easily and when it wouldn't work at all. In a live situation, this can't happen. I found that if I put it on the ground instead of on my pedalboard it helped (I think because my pedalboard bends a little when you put your weight on it), but it was still sketchy. It became useless to me because I couldn't trust it, but it had so many good sounds and models on it that I really couldn't live withoug that I found a way to work around it. I bought an effects loop pedal on ebay, which basically a way to put a bunch of pedals into this pedal and turn them all on or off with one switch. This way I have the EX-7 on all the time, and when I don't want to use it I take it out of the mix with the effects loop pedal. You can get these pedals for real cheap, and it made the EX-7 a useable pedal again.

I run a lot of pedals, but I've always been looking for a good Leslie simulator, as well as a good wah and Univibe. Well, in my opinion this has all those and more. It sounds really good for a modeling pedal. Both wahs sound great, the space station is really cool, the univibe, Leslie, and flanger are all great, really organic sounding (much to my suprise). The only one I don't really like is the Whammy, but that's just cause I have no use for it, I really can't tell you if it sounds like the real one or not. My favorite by far is the space station, it makes your guitar sound like a keyboard synth, with cool swells and chorus. It's hard to describe unless you play it yourself. I was very pleasantly suprised.

I run a Fender Tele -> Effects loop pedal (Boss TU-2 tuner -> Digitech EX-7 in the loop) -> Seymour Duncan Pickup booster pedal -> Tube Screamer -> Barber Direct Drive -> Voodoo Lab Tremolo -> Boss Tremolo -> Dunlop TVP-1 Volume/tremelo -> Prototype Tremolo (handmade) ->DOD Vibrothang -> MXR Phase 90 -> Boss DD-5 Delay -> 2nd Boss DD-5 delay -> Digitech Digiverb Reverb -> TopHat Club Deluxe

It seems solid enough.

While it is possible to set all the knobs to the 12 o'clock position and get some good tones, it really takes a little while to get to know this pedal. It has 3 control knobs, 3 distortion knobs, 1 model knob, the pedal itself, a toe and heel switch, and 4 input/output jacks. It is not the simplest pedal out there but it does so much, and the manual is very helpful. There are suggestions for each individual model to replicate "insert guitar hero name here" sound. It is true what they say about the toe/heel switches being hard to nail, but would you really want it switching off when you barely bump it? I think it's a good thing, but if you play sitting down, you will probably be standing up breifly to hit the toe/heel switch.

I have never used a ME-50 or GT6/8 or anything, but this thing is so diverse. 2 wahs, flanger, univibe, Leslie, whammy, and the almighty space station. Even if you don't use all 7 models on stage (which would be pretty damn hard without the FS3) you are getting a lot for your money, and all the models are fun to experiment with. If I could swap one of the modes out, I might swap the Vox Wah for a compression/sustainer because I think the Crybaby is superior in every way, but this is nothing to get upset about. Each model comes with a preset distortion, but you can actually change which dist. goes with which model (you could set the TS-9 to be the dist. for all models), tho not on the fly. I think this thing sounds freaking amazing 90% of the time. Oh, and the ADA is freaking sweet.

It seems very reliable. The shell is metal and seems very sturdy, the only thing I could see going wrong (within reason) is the knobs breaking off if you step on them or something.

I have never dealt with customer support.

I think this thing is better than a lot of people give it credit for. I considered getting it for awhile, back and forth, reading various reviews. $200 is a good chunk of money to spend if you're not sure what you're getting. Try this out at a shop somewhere, but the shop will probably close or kick you out before you can try EVERYTHING this pedal does, so that is a factor too. I found one on ebay for $120 new in the box. I guess it is still a good value at $200, but I like $120 better. It would be really nice if they could incorporate the FS3 footswitch into the EX7 so you don't have to spend another $40 on a model up/down-bypass switch, but it is usable without it. If it was stolen, I would get another one, for sure. The audio files on digitech.com are pretty acurate representations of the sounds you can get out of this, though it does depend on the amp you play it through. Bottom line - if you want an extremely diverse tone bank for about the price of an entry level guitar, pick this up and express yourself to your full capability, and stay out of the correctional facilities.

At first it was a little difficult to get used to however, if you simply get the manual out and go through the pedal along with the manual interactively, it makes good sense. This unit cannot be used as a seperate distortion pedal or as a seperate effects pedal. This is truly a design flaw however, I already own a DF-7 so I really have it covered (it also has some decent sounds). Reading a manual is required on this unit so put of your bong hits and spend some time actually learning the unit first. Dope is for dopes.

Using a number of guitars into a number of pedals which lead into a Boogie Tri-Axis that is running with a Boogie 2:90 amp. Bottom line is, I use top notch gear all the way there is no "knock off" gear in my rig at any level. I also run in stereo however, I run the EX-7 in my floor pedal signal path (mono). I leave it to my T.C. G-Major to create my stereo effects (very sweet too). The individual effects vary in my opinion. I find the Crybaby ok but the Vox wah is very nice. Good tight feeling to it. Really gets that whacka whacka you are looking for ala Hendrix, SRV etc. You do have to get used to the way the pedal feels though...this is true of any wah device. If you are trying to compare the "feel" of the Crybaby or the Vox (both of which I own) you will be frustrated. Just spend some time finding the the sweet spots and you will be fine. The Space echo is very cool and can be used as a nice pad type effect. It gets that spacey U2 Unforgetable Fire type ethereal stuff perfect! The Whammy is perfect. As many have said, it is worth the price of the unit. It does both octave up and down so I don't understand some of the reviews that say it does not. The Uni-Vibe is ok but my T.C. rack unit is much more convicing. I had the Dunlop Uni and even though it is the quote unquote original thing, I actually didn't like it that much. I found it over emphasized on the down cycle. The EF-7 has better overall control but it does not hold a candle to my TC. The leslie effect is ok but again, I find my TC does a better job with more over all control. The flanger simply pisses me off everytime I use it. I have a EH Electric Mistress and though it is noisy (which is why I have a Decimator) it simply gets a better overall vintage sound ala Andy Summers. So here is the bottom line:
1.) Both wahs are fine...experiment and get used to the feel of the pedal. Once you have that down, you will enjoy it.
2.) The Space Echo is fun to play with and sounds just like the original box in my ears. (I had one in the 80's)
3.) The Whammy is the coolest and is worth every dime of the unit.
4.) The Uni-Vibe is useable and gives you good control vs the Dunlop
5.) The rest of the unit is fairly unexciting

If you are looking to use the distortion features, you will likely be let down. They are a true pain in the ass. As stated, since I already own an DF-7 it is a non issue. But ultimately I use my preamp distortion tones anyway.

Be aware, that this is not a true bypass unit but I have a ToneBone Loobone to route my signal path accordingly.

So you get 3 great pedals for the price of one...this is justified in my rig. I use it regularly.

I have not had problems with the heel toe switches as others have described and I do, indeed have one of the first issued pedals. The pedal squeeked a bit when I first got it but it went away after awhile. Never had any problems with the unit.

Have not needed it.

I play a wide array of styles but ultimately I am an old school rock guitarist. Been playing for 28 years and own tons of top notch gear: Keeley Comp, Keeley Javaboost, Digitech DF-7 (I use the TS-9 emulator only), Electric Mistress, TC Gmajor, BBE Sonic Stomp (nice box by the way), Loopbone, Decimator (the only noise reduction to buy). If it were stolen I would replace it for sure. Of all the effects it brings to the table I use 3 of them regularly which justifies the cost to me. It would have been nice if they allowed you to use the Effects and the Distortion factory seperately but since I own both, it's a non issue. The effects are convincing and very clean sounding. The wahs are fine once you get used to the feel of the pedal. The Whammy is totally inspiring and has assisted me in getting the Audioslave/Rage sounds with ease. When I use it with an Ebow and a slide it gets totally crazy, very fun to use.

Okay, this is not good.

As pointed out by other (multiple) users, this is not a "plug-&-play" pedal. There are a *lot* of functions packed into a tiny interface, and there's little meaningful visual feedback, especially if you're in the middle of a performance ("uh oh, now what was model #5 again?"). That's assuming you can even read the tiny knobs in the typical dim lighting onstage.

Best advice I can give is to find one, maybe two, useful sounds which are worth dedicating to this pedal. There are plenty of nice sounds that can be coaxed out of the EX-7, but if you try to use it for all -- or even more than one -- of them interchangeably, you're merely asking for confusion and headaches.

Also, I'd read that the early models had problems with overly stiff buttons for the toe and heel switches, so I made it a point to get an EX-7 that had been manufactured relatively recently. I even tested it in the store to make certain there wouldn't be a problem. What I failed to take into consideration was that I tested it on the floor of the showroom, but my pedalboard has a tiny bit of flex in it. Consequently, I'm stomping on this thing three or four times just to turn the effect and amp models on and off. I think I cracked my pedalboard last night. Grrrrrrr...

I'm not taking the EX-7 back, but I'm definitely retiring it as a "studio only" device.

_

Many, many of the models do sound passable, and you're likely to find something here that you'll like. Just don't expect to like everything, and you'll be pleased with what you find. Most of the other reviewers give a good overview of what's available, so I won't merely repeat their reviews.

However, one thing that has only been mentioned peripherally is that this thing is a MAJOR TONE SUCK. I've had this problem in the past with other DigiTech pedals. The EX-7 is not true bypass. What's more, it seems that it is digitally processing your signal, EVEN WHEN NOT ENGAGED. I can't even use the darn thing as a Volume Pedal without having it suck all the life out of my instrument.

If you do purchase an EX-7, do yourself a favor and also budget for a true bypass loop, so that it will not digitally suck out your tone when you're not actively using it.

_

Seems built pretty well. I don't really have any reservations about taking it out on the road (at least, not in terms of build quality).

_

Never had to deal with them, so I'll give this one a pass....

_

I've been playing a variety of instruments since the '70's, and have owned several recording and project studios since the 1980's. I purchased the EX-7 for use with a couple of my guitars (vintage Fender Tele & Vox Tempest XII, primarily), as well as my 10- and 12-string Chapman Sticks.

I thought the EX-7 would be a workable "swiss army knife" effect. I don't have many of the original boxes after which its effects were modelled, and wouldn't use those particular effects often enough to warrant buying the originals. In this case, the EX-7 does provide a workable solution.

Most aggravating are the "ease of use" considerations -- which pretty much relegate this as a studio-only box -- and the annoying digital sound quality. As I said above, I'm not taking this one back to the shop because it isn't entirely worthless. However, it is going to spend most of its life on a shelf, waiting for an instance when one of those particular "special" sounds is called for.

_

Does anyone know how to get the squeak out of the pedal? I usually use lithium grease for my crybaby wah but the mechanism that moves up and down is tucked in too much in this pedal and i cant really access it for greasing? please post a review here or email me, thanks so much.

This pedal is complicated.. long story short, you have to manually switch a small knob between effects and also adjust small knob parameters, if you can memorize the settings as i have its fine but for convenience it is weak

cool sounds generally, and what they lack in replication of analog effects they make up for in unique and exciting tones

yes

nope

its very original and for the OPTIONS it offers you, it is well worth the money if you do experimental, jamming or anything that utilizes original sounds.

Moderately easy to use after a quick read of the manual. Thought there is one GLARING isuue which I will explain later.

The Wah's are quite good except for the limited pedal travel. The XP300 sound is a bit "out there" but may be of use to the experimental musician. The Leslie and Uni-Vibe are fair and the Flanger is good. The best feature to my mind is the Pitch Shifter except for the fact it has no octave down setting. It is responsive and does not suffer the delay effect that the RP300 has when used for pitch shifting (thought the 300 has a better pedal action).

Seems sturdy.

I recieved a response within a week about the GLARING ODDITY of this devices operation. Which you'll find below.

YOU CAN NOT TURN OFF THE EFFECT MODEL AND STILL USE THE DISTORTION MODEL! The heel switch turns off/on the distortion model (with effect model) and the toe switch turns off the effect model when the distortion model is disengaged so you're left with a straight, clean sound!

I ask you, what good is that? Say I like the Wah with the Ibanez distortion model but I would like to actually turn OFF the Wah after a solo and continue playing using the distortion sound... NO GO! CAN'T DO IT!

You want the distortion model on when you turn off an effect? Go buy a Distortion Factory to use WITH your EX-7 (another $100.00). You, like me, might think you're getting two independent models that can be combined or used singularly. Not so! I mean really, Why on God's green Earth would you want to design a unit like this?

An unfathomable oversight or a really poor design choice. Such a shame. The sounds themselves are very good. The distortion models are great. The pitch shifter is far superior to the Digitech RP300's. No delay. Pedal travel is limited, there is no octave down function. The two Wah, Wah models are very good. The Leslie and Uni-Vibe are passable.

No presets are stored except the distortion and effect combination!

If you can find it for under $99.00 used, you can get yourself a decent pitch shifter and Wah, Wah. Personally I am very disappointed in the design. What were they thinking.