DigiTech GNX1

Easy to set up and make presets, manual is thorough and not mysterious. The only thing that sucks is that as you're editing parameters, the LED's flash from left to right across the matrix, making you have to follow the dots until you get to the parameter you want. Very annoying. Just leave the dot on the parameter I've selected, O.K. Digitech???

Here's where things go downhill fast. Let me first say that I cut my teeth on an RP6, then graduated to an RP-2000( Great Box, more later ), so I know what Digitech is capable of in the sound dept.
Before I even THINK of plugging a preamp/processor into a power amp or an amps FX Loop, I sit down with a pair of HIGH QUALITY headphones, direct out of the unit, and create my sounds. The GNX-1 fails miserably in this department.
1) The headphone output does not have NEAR enough volume to really hear the frequencies when you're trying to E.Q., and having that volume is absolutely neccesary! The RP-2000 did not have this problem. Sure, you could run the signal into a mixer and boost the volume there, but then you introduce coloration from the mixers preamps...unacceptable!
2) The cabinet simulators/models are TOTAL CRAP! They all sound way too dark, except the "American 1X12", and even IT doesn't have an acceptable sound. The "cabinet tuning" parameter does NOTHING to solve this problem, so if you're planning on using this device to record direct...Forget it! Once again; the RP-2000 did not have this problem, and sounded WAY more realistic!
3) Digitech claims that the models used in the GNX series are the same as those used in the RP-2000, and that may be true, but the E.Q. section is diffrent and when you combine that with the TERRIBLE speaker sims, the GNX series just doesn't even come close to upstaging it's predecessor( RP-2000 ).

So did I run the unit through a power amp and speaker cab? Nope. If I can't get a good sound out of the unit itself, then what good will it do to "amplify a substandard sound"?
As for the mixing of sounds, or "hypermodels"; it's a great idea, but if all you have is TWO crappy sounds to mix together...well, you get the idea.
I really wanted to like this unit. After owning the RP-2000, I was excited to see what would come next. Sadly, the result is VERY disappointing and if I wanted to stick with Digitech, I'd sell this thing and find a good used RP-2000 on Ebay. As it is, I've recently purchased a Rocktron Chameleon Online off of Ebay, and I'm pleased to report that I'm discovering what it means to have that thing they call REAL TONE! In short; I'm done with toys.

The only good thing I can say about this catagory is that you can turn the preamp, E.Q., and cab sim off, and just use this as a stand alone effects box. In that respect, Digitech does make good sounding effects.

Built solid; chassis is metal but footswitches are plastic and would probably crack under stressful touring conditions.
The power jack is of the flimsy, toy-like, 9-volt vintage that screams "duct tape"! Not good for a floor unit.

Digitech is very good in this dept. Prompt reponse to e-mails, and knowledgable staff.

As it stands, the flagship of Digitech quality and sound is STILL the RP-2000. The GNX series aspires to much, but produces little.
Save your money, go online to Ebay, and buy an RP-2000 if you insist on purchasing a Digitech product.
If however you're ready to take the next step, skip the Digitech and come on over to Rocktron; where toy-tone is but a bitter memory.

The factory presets are really decent. They kept me entertained for many hours before I thought about tweaking them or creating my own. Editing took a little extra time to figure out and I did eventually end up using the manual. There are quite a lot of features crammed into a small area. Maybe too much. Because of the fewer pedals you are limited in the number of changes you can make before you actually have to use your hands. It might make performance work a little more challenging. The upside is that all of the pedals are multi-featured so you still have a lot of variety at your toe-tips.

I was thrilled when I first heard it. I play a Les Paul into either a P.A. or into the pc. The sound is awesome. I was very surprised at how real it sounded and the complete absence of latency when running through additional digital processes. This thing is much better than the RP's. Plenty of realistic tone through all of their amp/cabinet models. The quality of the effects is great as well. And plenty of tweekability all around. A couple of the presets are artist specific, Eric Johnson, Santana, and the sound is very close. The Johnson setup screams "Major-mode me."

Haven't had it for very long, but it hasn't failed me yet. I always take an amp just in case technology fails me so yes, I'd take a backup.

I really like this thing. I play all styles from classical to make it bleed. This is definately a good match if there is any amount of variety in your style. Also, for $250 your not going to touch an amp thats worth a shit, let alone have some of the baddest bastards ever made at your beck and artistic call. Its more than just a reasonable faxcimile. Other modlers and multi-effects have seemed to be lacking in sound quality, realism, too much latency and any other number of digital crossover downsides. I don't have any of those complaints so far. Although I'd like to see more foot control surface and have less "hands" on. Yeah, it helps me make music. I don't waste time screwing around trying to get a good sound out of it. Without the distractions and with the great sound, creativity flows.

Allright this thing is easier as it looks. After 10minutes of extensive reading the manual got me where I wanted it. Each pedal knob or whatever you can push turn or press has about three functions at a time. It is easy to get the sound you like except for some little anoing little isseus:
1. Each time you turn a knob it doesnt remember your old settings so you have to check every time before editing.
2. At some moments the whole thing likes to demo itself and keeps displaying his settings eg.

Playing at home or practice would not give too much problems but I wouldnt try this thing onb stage. You cannot switch banks up and down with no pedal and every time you switch bank you hear a short stop in sound.
Ill give it a seven because the on stage performance is not as well as i hoped.

Ok this thing has what a guitarist need to play normally.
I am playing on a crapy Aria proII guitar and got it plugged in right into an old onkyo amp (strange setup dont you think! He im just a student and all the bands I join fall apart).
I have managed to get mettalica, Guns and roses and even overdrive like sounding bleus out of this thing. The acoustic simulator works fine except when playing on the highest string.
NEVER USE THE PRESETS!! They suck alot (except for the acoust and the solo).
You have to edit the sound yourself or this thing won't sound well.
The cabinet simulator sound great and the amps too. I also like the pickup simulator. The wah sound great, much better then on my old korg axg1. The rest of the effects do also great. Only the pitch shifter and the decall somehow have false notes in them (Pretty usual for multi-effects by the way).
The equaliser is a hard thing to control though easy to use. It easily gives a strange dark twist to the sound.
The noise gates do their job fine but you have to balance them yourself.
All this sounds great but the overal sound somehow sounds locked up in a giant room. When you try to increase the volume your amp will distort so it has to be the pedal. I hope digitech will fix this in the future.

A little story from my own at the end:
I hate it when people shit around about digital sounding pedals. Ok everyone has a opinion and here is mine. No matter what pedal or amp you buy. the electronics consist of transistors and they are all made of silicium. So are de microchips in de multi-effects. The difference is that transistors provide a less reliable signal so give a more crapy old 50ts sound. So the gnx would be more a pedal for people who play korn, mettalica or guns and roses. But if you are planning on playing music such as radiohead or jimmi hendrix. better use the transistor based pedals from boss.

Not only the effects do the job, the fingers are the most important. you can buy yourself a new pedal every week but you wont sound better unless youre playing allready for lets say 10years.

Very reliable pedal made of solid metal. The pedals will unfortunatly start failing very soon.
if I ever have to perform ever again I would use a better pedal, something like the gnx3 or the newer roland versions.

Didnt have to deal with them yet. I do by the way like their website

I play alot of mettalica, guns and roses, van halen etc and offcourse everything else in the world. By now my gear has never changed. I once had a animal guitar with a boss os-2 but it got stolen right before performance. I do own a boss ds-2 (NOW thats a piece of shit whe are talking about!!) and a korg axg1 (Nice for beginners).
The gnx do have alot of functions. Even that much that i actually begin to wonder what it can't do. It sounds great having a large range of sound and amp variety. (It sounds hell better then the old korg or other amps i ever heard).
I would not use this thing on stage unless it isnt an important concert.
I it gets stolen though I would get a new one. Since you sound pretty proffesional for verry cheap.
I though have read all the other opinions and discovered I have been paying too much for this thing.
It gets an eight because it sounds great in the end (except for the little isseus such as the far away like overall sound)and offcourse because you can't simply get on stage with this thing

This processor is really easy to get a good sound out of. It does take a little fiddling with to change the effects and other features but for as many sounds and possibilities that it has it is realativley easy to use. The manual does a good job of explaining the processor and how to use it.

I use a Fender Fat Strat through the GNX 1 with an extra Hot Rod distortion through a Fender Bassman 2x15 half stack. This sounds great. There are many different amp models that you can use as well as different effects. The effects sound great. The chorus is good, reverb is superb, phaser and flanger are both some of the best that I've heard. The wah pedal is one of my favorites. You can turn the wah on and off by just stepping on the pedal. The volume pedal is a very nice touch too. It is a very smoth transition in volume levels. The amp modeling feature is cool. Some of the amps are convincing. The distortions that you get from the amp modeling are good but I bought a Digitech Hot Rod for a more tube sound distortion as my Bassman doesn't have a distortion channel. I'll probably use the Hot Rod Distortion half of the time and the distortion from the GNX 1 the other half of the time. Over all it is a great sounding pedal and a big improvement over the RP series which I had before.

This is a very dependalbe unit. I gig with it all the time and it hasn't given out on me yet. There is only one problem and that is it switches amp modes on me. It has only happened a few times and it maybe that I haven't locked in the presets or something. It hasn't happened for a few months and so maybe it doesn't do it any more.

Haven't had to deal with the company yet. I never did get the free software that they were supposed to send me yet.

I play a lot of rock, hard rock, acoustic rock, and blues. This processor is great for switching between clean sounds and distorted sounds. The effects are very convincing and the features are great. I've been playing for 10 years and this is the best processor that I've played in the less than $300 range. Sure beats the lower end processors like Zoom 505II or ones like that. I do wich that it had more pedals to move through the patches with. That is the only draw back in features. It does a great job of bringing out creativity and easy to program the sounds you need if you read the manual.

Well, it was a little more simple with my Digitech RP7 and RP3. I only have this baby for a few days, so i cant say by now its an easy thing to use. Those warped stuffs and those hard EQ things on them are not for beginiers......But i manage to understand how it works by now.

Great sound, i have a Cry Baby 535Q ,Jim Dunlop of course,and this thing sounds almost equal in tone!! The distorsions are not really ground breaking....not ehemmm.... like a Triaxis and i feel them very limitated. But the clean efects sounds great. The whammy on it have a BIG diference with the before procesors above mentioned (RP7 and 3) you can play it in real time. The RP's had a delay on the time you played them and the time they sound. In the GNX1 this is on real, real time!!! I dont care too much for purists who claim to be technicians but this little stuff have good sounds.

"Can you depend on it?" Any F$%#" time!!!....."Would you use it on a gig without a backup?" I do. Its a little unconvenient stuff that there is no bank down foot pedal like the old Digitech RP3 but thats all...Theres no competitions between this procesors.This is a litle tank, solid one.....

No need to...

Not the true thing,but a very nice tool for beginers (those who claims to be "Full fledge sound-ingeniers should know at first that this are not for pros.....so you look ridicoulous bashing this little fantastic tool for guitarists....)If you want to have a good time with it its a pleasure for your ears. I dont think you spend much time whining because you dont have a $10000000 gear with you.....and if you are playing on a local bar or something like...mmm...(your room?) this is the sh1t!! I dont regret any cent inverted on it. No one seems to care about the midi stuff on it and the drums for practice too. They are a very good tools for every kind of musicians around. My music tastes are DREAM THEATER(John Petrucci of course), JOE SATRIANI, STEVE VAI, and most of those shread guitarists around...and i have 13 years playing.This GNX1 its a cool procesor for you if your not a close minded retarded who thinks that the only thing that could sound great its a ton of dollars transformed into gear....great sound depends on every ear. BUY IT!!

I'm no computer whiz and not much of a gear head. I wanted something that would give me plenty of options that I could use onstage quickly and easily without compromising tone, and this was it. I easily walked through the manual and got a basic understanding pretty quickly. After about 6 months, I went back through the manual and started to master some of the editing functions. The sound keeps improving, the more I use this pedal to it's fullest potential.

I gig through a Fender Am Deluxe strat(lefty) through the pedal and then into a Fender Deville(yes, I'm a Fender man). I have practiced through this pedal into a Crate SState(35 watt) and even tried it into a Peavey Transformer just to see sound quality. It performs best with the Deville(although its HARD to get a bad sound of this amp). This is a very good pedal(not great!) here's a rundown of strong points and weaknesses. Chorus, Reverb, amp modeling, cabinet modeling all sound GREAT. It's weakness is the Ya Ya and Wah effects. This is a shame since I had to buy a decent wah pedal to get the sound I wanted, thereby making things more complicated when I'm trying to simplify.
The chorus is good enough that I even run my accoustic(Guild D25,told you I was a fender man) through this pedal and then into an SWR Strawberry blonde(I know, not a Fender) when I want to add chorus to my accoustic.

Works great. Never had a problem with the pedal as a whole, but I don't suggest using the tuner if you want an accurate tuner. I don't care much for the lighted readout, we do some outdoor summer gigs and the sunlight drowns out what little light this thing puts out.
YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THIS THING DOESN'T WORK WITH ANY OTHER AC ADAPTOR. This is an improtant detail if yours bites the dust. Mine hasn't yet, but I am paraniod it will leave me high and dry one night. Because it hasn't, I won't deduct points for this. But I will take off a few for the weak tuner.

NA

We play heavy handed Christian Rock to Praise music and it does a decent job covering all these styles.
I would probably not get another one, just because my next step up will be to a modeling amp with great tone(VOX would be great, but our lead guitarist just got one and there's no sense doubling the same sounds on stage) like a Cyber Twin. TOLD YOU I WAS A FENDER MAN!!

This is just a quick update on my progress with the GNX-1. I continue to be amazed at the possibilities of this little box! If you really know your amps, you can come up with some incredible combinations that otherwise just don't exist in the "poor mans gigging world"! I'm just about peeing my pants to see what Digitech comes up with next!
And by the way; I went to my local music store to check out the new POD XT. I wanted to see if I was missing anything, and I can tell you that the answer is a LOUD "Hell No"!!! I don't know WHAT those guys are on out there in the sound lab, but thier models STILL sound one and two dimensional at best! And THEY are supposed to be the "Industry Standard"??? I think NOT! Digitech is just CREAMING the competition, and I for one am hella' glad! lol!!!

The BEST for MultiFX processors, period!

I give this an 8 or an 8 1/2 for ease of use.... if you're not familiar with Digitech products this might be a little intimidating, but it's not bad. Most buttons or knobs serve 2 or 3 functions. Only having one switch to change banks is very inconvenient. You have to press and hold to go down, and tap one at a time to go up.... so if you need to change sounds in the middle of a song while you're singing, it can get REALLY interesting.

Most of the sounds are good to excellent. The tremolo and vibrato are great, the clean tube sounds very much like a Fender Twin, the Tweed rules, the Marshalls and Mesas sound great. The intelligent pitch shift harmony isn't nearly as good as on my GSP-2120, though... there's a "ghost note" below every note you hit, and it sounds really crappy. I use very high quality guitars (Parker Fly, PRS, Anderson Holllow T) and amps (Vox AC-30, Reverend Hellhound) and they all sounded great, whether going through an amp or going straight to the mixing board, which I did most of the time, because I do a lot of singles.

Built out of solid metal. I used it without backup all the time. I've used Digitech stuff for 10 years....a GSP-21, and RP-10, and a GSP-2101 which I upgraded to the 2120. The 2101 broke down after 3 or 4 years but was fixed right away, the RP-10 had some display problems after 2 years, but the 2101 is still kicking hard 6 years later.

Very helpful. You can always talk to a human, instead of the endless recordings.

This is a good unit, but if I could do it over again, I'd buy the GNX2, because it has "up" and "down" bank buttons. Plus it adds stompbox modeling, whcih would be cool. The GNX3 also adds an input for a second continuous controller, which I think all 3 models should have. This is extremely convenient.

A total of 1 hour tops with the manual, and I was good to go. I have owned other Digitech processors in the past, so I'm already familiar with their layout. Manual covers all of the options and aspects in a very easy-to-follow way.
Sounds are as good if not better than the other companies doing modeling, but the ability to blend those models into new sounds is exclusive to Digitech. This alone makes the product worth consideration; it's a tone-sculpting dynamo.

I run the unit direct to a Carvin Fet series power amp, and I run in stereo. The unit is exceptionally quiet, and it's obvious that Digitech has made some much-needed improvements to the noise gate. The effects sound as good as anything out there, and Digitech gives you a boatload of them to choose from.
The only tricky part is working with the EQ. You have to sit down and really LISTEN to which frequencies work best with your guitar, but that's to be expected. I suggest using headphones when eq'ing so you can really HEAR those frequencies. I also use phones to construct my patches with. That way, when they hit the power amp and cabs, the patch already sounds great.

Digitech doesn't skimp on the materials when it comes to manufacturing these babies. The outside is almost all-metal except for the footswitches and the parameter knobs. I would use it on a gig without a backup and feel safe doing so.

Great customer service, even by e-mail! Digitech stands behing their product, and finding an authorized dealer or repair shop is much easier than trying to get your overseas manufacturers to fix THEIR products.

With the ability to combine amp models and switch between your creation and another amp channel, this thing is a powerhouse. Best of all, coming up with your OWN signature sound without lugging multiple amps is now a reality. If somebody stole my GNX-1, I'd probably step up to the GNX-2. This is simply a great product, and a real price/performance winner. And no, I do not work for Digitech, I'm just a musician in Kansas City who appreciates an innovative, great-sounding product that most any musician could afford.

I use to run through a midi device and It sounded good but took 4 years to master. The GNX1 is as simple to use as it gets except for the e-qing. The problem is this, I dont know if my amps e-q should be zeroed out and use the GNX e-qs (both effects channel and dial up presets) or use all of it. That is the ONLY problem I see. If someone knows E-mail me---hgsmoofie@aol.com

LOw noise is key, this is great for that. I really love the multiple distortions, but what I like is I can use all the presets minus the amp models and different cabs, allowing me to set up my own sound with all the effects. I fell in love all over again once I discovered that great flexability, and it's only one small unit.
I run this through a Crate 2200HT half stack, then through my Berringer P.A.to Bagend speakers while jammin on my Ibenez Gax 70 and My special sweety Peavey Wolfgang guitars.
I love the Nugent fuzz and the Poison clean chousy crunch. I get every sound I look for. Only the equalization needs to be clarified for setting up, whether or not to use amp settings or not.

Never a problem yet. I love it.
Yes. I have a decent built in system of my stack so , I dont think I'll have problems either way. (Hopefully)

N/A Haven't had to contact them. See? Dependability!!!

I play Hard rock, country, and whatever sounds good. With the Gnx1 I can play any style I can learn. A great match! I listed my gear already but here goes, Crate 120 and Crate 2200HT 1/2 stack, Berringer 14 channel P.A. with a Qsc Power amp driving Bagend speakers. I play a Ibenez gax 70, a peavey wolfgang. I also play an alvarez acoustic with a built in package. I coil all this together with a pioneer home system for D.J.jobs when possible.
I'm 39 and have been playing for 24 years now and I will Rock Til I drop, even if I get seasoned with age.
If it was stolen, someone would be praying. I guess I'd have to make a repeat purchase, but it would be painful.
I love everything about the Gnx1 except for the E-Q confusion. My favorite feature I think is the flexability, My amp Plus all other amps is a hell of a lot a ampsssss.
There are so many products that I just gave a Ballpark fig. for everything I bought together and this was the last part of the package. Rick's Music world did a great job providing me with all I have for sound at a real deal.
It's great for being musicaly innovative and Powerful for performing, Oh Yeh, Its also a great Teacher! No need for a lesson, just pop in a favorite chop and it YOURS!
Again, If someone knows if the E-q knobs of your amp should be leveled to ----- flat and center. Please let me Know at
<hgsmoofie@aol.com> or I'll never sleep!
Goodluck to all!
H.Greenwood