DigiTech GNX2

GNX2, version 1.3. This pedal can be a pain to get a good sound. All the factory presets vary in level. You have to make sure you set the output for what you are running it through (direct, 1x12, 2x12, 4x12) if you leave it on direct it will sound like total CRAP! To get a good sound, get a good idea of what you are looking for in a sound, then take a channel and completely strip it down and start from the bottom up. The manual is lengthy because it explains all the different effects. All in all it's a very complicated unit. Eventually you will get use to it and then it will be less frustrating.

I run a strat through a crybaby 535, boss oc-2, boss fbm-1, dod supra dist, GNX2, then to my boss rc2 looper, then finally to my Marshall MG100HDFX clean channel. Not hardly at all noisy, and when it is(high gain or high compression) the noise gate takes care of it. Effects have lots of parameters so you can set them however you please. It has a pitch shifter and you can create octave up octavia sounding fuzz tone. Pretty rad. Right now, I'd say that the best part of this machine is that it has a built in freakin digitech whammy, which totally makes up for the previous low rating. Kind of. The delays suck, they sound really dry. Everything else is pretty decent. Anyway, if you dig Rage Against The Machine or envy Tom Morello's playing but can't afford a slew of pedals, this is THE machine for you.

Rely on this? Yeah, it's built like a tank, in the US no doubt. It's the power supply that I'd need a backup for. My first on crapped out, and I found out that it's common for this pedal. Something wrong with it, and it costs 40 bucks to replace. Dang. Don't leave it plugged in while you're not using it or you'll destroy the life of the power supply.

Don't know, can't say

Overall this pedal is very usable, but eventually I will have completely replaced it with good, mostly analog stompboxes. They just sound better. I'm tellin ya though, the whammy on this thing is rad. I'd say buy this first and have EVERYTHING, then slowly build up your stompboxes around it and eventually retire it.

*HOW EASY IS IT TO GET A GOOD SOUND OUT OF IT?
I've used it with a Fender Mexican Strat(with a Kinman pickup in the bridge), a Hagrstrom FP-200, and an Epiphone Joe Pass. I would say its much easier to get a good sound out of the first two since they are not as good sounding by themselves. I really like the way the Joe Pass sounds clean so its much more annoying/hassle-inducing to get a good sound going with that. There's also the placement. Direct it sounds the best probably. In front of an amp that sounds good by itself its a lot pickier to get a good sound.

*HOW ABOUT EDITING PATCHES?
I did my 'research' for this purchase so when I decided I wanted this pedal I read most of the manual to make sure it did what I thought it did, so when I got it, it was pretty simple. The only thing I don't like too much is that everything has a level. This is fine by itself, except that by the time you finish a patch and switch to another one, the levels are totally messed. Usually I just do a 'save as' type deal to get a new effect with a similar sound.

*HOW IS THE MANUAL FOR IT?
The manual is good. They pump up the hypermodeling thing a lot when all it does is really mix two settings.

*DO YOU KNOW THE FIRMWARE REVISION NUMBER?
nah yo. I haven't upgraded it.

*CAN YOU GET THE SOUND OF YOU FAVORITE ARTISTS? WHO ARE THEY?
I don't care about this part too much. If it's any perspective I like Hella, Braid, Yes, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Zappa. Getting their sound wasn't really that important to me.

*ARE CERTAIN EFFECTS VERY GOOD?
I would say the best is probably the pitch shifter and harmonizer. I guess this was probably one of the selling points for me. Everything else does what it has to do pretty much. The thing that I like about this pedal that is maybe slightly less sound-related is that you can adjust most of the parameters the way you want them in terms of what you really want. For example the treble isn't 1-10, it tells you the Hz amounts you are changing.

*ARE CERTAIN EFFECTS VERY BAD?
The only thing I wish there was a ring modulator that is missing, but its not like I would use that all the time. One thing that sucks, but is a bit nitpicky is with the delay, is that if you change the amount of delay it clicks and then switches to the new level instead of actually changing how much delay there is (for example a boss dd-5 does this).

*WHAT SETUP ARE YOU USING IT WITH? WHAT AMP ARE YOU USING IT WITH?
Currently recording direct with an Epiphone Joe Pass and Hagstrom FP200, I want to use it live with the above-mentioned Roland amp, but mainly for effects and to get a bit more distortion. The only effect that is sometimes in the chain is an RC-20 loop station.

*IS IT NOISY?
Only with the p-90's in the Hagstrom, but when its loud enough it doesn't really matter and there is a noise gate anyway.

*ARE THE EFFECTS WEAK OR DO THEY ALWAYS SOUND GREAT?
They sound good to me, I guess I can't really judge how close they are to the originals but that seems kind of subjective to begin with. The pitch shifters and delays are awesome.

*ARE THEY EFFECTS WEAK

*CAN YOU DEPEND ON IT?
No, this is the only bad part about the GNX2. The unit itself is pretty sturdy, I'm pretty sure I've dropped it a couple times. The problem is with the adapter. I used the first one for gigging a bunch of times and then part of the insulation near the transformer block thing got and I couldn't use it anymore. If it happened now I might have tried to solder it, but I got a new one which you can only use their adapter which is like...40 bucks. Kind of a rip off in that department. I found that it works with a boston acoustics adapter, but messing with that kind of stuff is scary enough in itself. The reason you need to get their adapter is that the plug is a really specific size. It would be totally cool if they made it a more 'standard' size. For example I lost my Boss power adapter and then used a generic one I had laying around for my RC-20 and it worked fine. It seems like they've changed this (I recently ordered YET ANOTHER, and it seems that its only for the GNX2). I don't think they even sell this one anymore since they are trying to prostitute the whole MP3 recorder/flash card thing and maybe because of this problem.

*WOULD YOU USE IT ON A GIG WITHOUT A BACKUP?
yes actually, but only if you had a pedal board for this to rest on, or you don't move like an ass like I do.

haven't dealt with them.

*WHAT STYLE OF MUSIC DO YOU PLAY? IS IT A GOOD MATCH?
My band I guess is considered 'screamo' though our newer stuff is metal-ish in the sense that its more technical. Its a good match for this except for this except for that I usually move around too much. I want to use it like a pod for my personal recordings and control the effects with MIDI(the selling point for me, My friend had a flextone head and the weird connection to the floorboard really turned me off to it eventhough I think it might be compatible with MIDI).

*HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING? WHAT OTHER GEAR DO YOU OWN?
I've been playing about 8 or 9 years if you include highschool lol. I mentioned most of this stuff before.

*IF IT WERE STOLEN OR LOST, WOULD YOU BUY IT AGAIN OR GET SOMETHING ELSE?
If my computer was good enough and I had the cash I would get Guitar Rig 2 or a newer version of the GNX2 pedals. I might try another pedal, but I'm pretty partial to the pitch shifter.

*WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT IT?
The pitch shifter, the tuner was a nice little bonus. The amount of control.

*WHAT DO YOU HATE?
The aforementioned delay thing. Too many volumes lol. But mostly the adapter thing.

*WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FEATURE?
The little things. SPDIF, the direct stereo out. the tuner. midi control.

It's easy to get a good sound using genedit software, but if you are on the stage and have to do some corrections, it's pain in the ass.Any korg
unit is a way easier to do with. warp option is usefull but i would like that i could turn it off so it would be a good start.

I can get excellent sounds on this for recording directly to computer. when i go onstage, plug into my amp the sound is not so good. even when select in the utility menu my kind of amp, it's not quite optimized. you should crank your amp with digitech connected and using software set it right. i'm using marshall 2*12, and efects sound excellent, distortion if not carefully set sounds unnatural. i wanted more power, better control, whammy wah and all that in a single unit. it's verry good. biggest problem - IT KILLS A LOT OF A
TONE THAT AMP PRODUCES EVEN WHEN SET TO BYPASS

it seams reliable, but there is one big problem there also: TOO SLOW PATCH CHANGE FOR A STAGE. switch to solo and you'll first hear like bump maybe for 0.25 , 0.5 sec, and then a patch. not for pro's

i play heavy and prog, sounds are great, but it takes a lot of time to get a good one, on my ax1500g from korg i just turn a knob and there it is, sounds great all the time, and reacts on controlls way better then this pinball mashine.
if they invested more in speed of procesor when changing patches and put out the stupid rhytam machine, it would be like wow
oh, and i LOVE V-switch- wish that my korg had it. it's so fucking great. like having a morley bad horsie wah. and it do sounds great. any time press pedal bit over end and you have it. blessing for all styles
and also a great thing. if you press a button of a patch you are already in, you'll be in bypass mode.

Editing patches is not very easy, and not comfortable. Have to get use to that but recently I only used software on PC and didn't want to touch the device.

It's hard to find good sound. Something is always missing and sound is moody. Mayby it's good only for Vai fans?

I have had many other guitar processors and it's only one that I have problems with. After few months I had to apply extra force to push buttons and one footswitch even broke. Dial wheel was unpredictable. Once worked in right direction, other time in different.

Ugly. Looks cheap. Sounds cheap. Hard to edit. Hard to push buttons. I'm selling it right now. This is my second and last Digitech.

This is an UPDATE of my earlier review of Genesis 3 and GNX-2

This is an UPDATE of the review I just wrote MOMENTS ago, so Harmony Central People-- USE THIS ONE! Thanks

First, let me state that I have exceptionally great audio equipment here to test-- A Fender Blackface Bassman amp and Fender Champ, both modded by Fat Willy at NBS music in Denver, Colorado- and he is a genius.

My PC is hooked up to an alesis 500W power amp, with KRK passive monitor speakers, and my sound card is a 24/96 Audigy2.

I have discovered that I can get a PERFECT, or nearly so straight guitar sound using the GNX by using the DIRECT OUT option in the Utility area (do not use the other options, which color the sound), and then adding +2 to the Bass EQ, and +2 to the Treble EQ at 6500Khz

I then chose the DIRECT AMP and DIRECT CABINET setting (Green or Red) and selected output of 99, and gain of 99.

I tested this signal using a high grade A/B splitter pedal that would allow me to instantly compare the straight guitar to amp signal against the guitar to GNX-2 to amp signal.

I compared the two sounds BLIND-- that is switched between each, and tried to guess which was which without looking at the splitter pedal. It was impossible to tell the difference, much to my delight and surprise. I got it wrong as many times as I got it right.

I LISTENED VERY VERY CLOSELY.

There was no added noise or hiss using the GNX-2. There was no change in tonal quality at any pitch, or with chords, except possible for the better. Sometimes the GNX-2 sounded slightly richer in tone than the straight signal, possibly because of a very slight boost in this EQ- but it was EXTREMLY CLOSE.

I did not select any effects.

I plugged into a Fender Blackface Bassman amp and a Fender Champ amp as my test, one line going into channel input 1, the other into input 2, and adjusted the output of the GNX-2 to match the straight from guitar output.

It is important to know that when the GNX-2 is properly set up for a straight tone, it does not add any coloration or degrade the sound whatsoever.

Despite what many "purists" might claim, the unit does not alter the pure sound of a guitar if you add just that little touch of Bass and treble EQ, and this was a slight change from my earlier tests- now I have learned to tweak the unit more precisely. Apparently, the "factory flat" EQ setting of the GNX-2 looses a tad of treble and bass as compared to a straight guitar, but once you adjust this, you have a perfect match for a straight guitar.

To my further surpirse, the GNX-2 actually seemed to sound better to my ears on many occassions. I was convinced I was listening to the pure sound, and was greatly surprised that I had it backwards.

Whether or not the GNX-2 effects are equivalent or better or worse than separate analogue pedals-- this is a much more difficult question to answer, a certainly a very subjective area. I have found that I can put all of my pedals in front of the GNX-2 input and use them when I like either alone or in combination with the GNX-2, and then I have the best of both worlds. By using a A/B splitter, one could additionally choose to bypass the GNX-2 or make it part of the signal chain.

The GNX will generate a bit of background hiss on its own when the analog outputs are used, however, when the patch gain and output are maximized, this becomes irrelevant, and any inherent amp noise itself, regardless of volume setting, will be far greater. In the case of using the SPDIF outputs, It should be further noted that using the digital out signal when going into a SPDIF input totally eliminates any hiss or noise from the GNX signal under "microscopic" listening conditions- although there is something to be said for sound eminating from a moving coil and speaker, and miking than for recording will generally introduce elements of "REALNESS" absent from purely digital recording.

No problems, although an earlier example of a GNX2 and RP2000, the knobs got a little squirrely after a time.

Got them when I needed a spring and pedal cap once, no problem.

Can you beat it for the money? Especially used? No way.

See my web site for more music and recording info
www.NeilSlade.com
The Amazing Brain Music Adventure

This is an UPDATE of my earlier review of Genesis 3 and GNX-2

I have discovered that I can get a PERFECT, or nearly so straight guitar sound using the GNX by using the DIRECT OUT option in the Utility area, and then adding +2 to the Bass EQ, and +2 to the Treble EQ at 6500Khz

I then chose the DIRECT AMP and DIRECT CABINET setting (Green or Red) and selected output of 99, and gain of 99.

I tested this signal using a high grade A/B splitter pedal that would allow me to instantly compare the straight guitar to amp signal against the guitar to GNX-2 to amp signal.

I compared the two sounds BLIND-- that is switched between each, and tried to guess which was which without looking at the splitter pedal. It was impossible to tell the difference, much to my delight and surprise. I got it wrong as many times as I got it right.

I LISTENED VERY VERY CLOSELY.

There was no added noise or hiss using the GNX-2. There was no change in tonal quality at any pitch, or with chords, except possible for the better. Sometimes the GNX-2 sounded slightly richer in tone than the straight signal, possibly because of a very slight boost in this EQ- but it was EXTREMLY CLOSE.

I did not select any effects.

I plugged into a Fender Blackface Bassman amp and a Fender Champ amp as my test, one line going into channel input 1, the other into input 2, and adjusted the output of the GNX-2 to match the straight from guitar output.

It is important to know that when the GNX-2 is properly set up for a straight tone, it does not add any coloration or degrade the sound whatsoever.

Despite what many "purists" might claim, the unit does not alter the pure sound of a guitar if you add just that little touch of Bass and treble EQ, and this was a slight change from my earlier tests- now I have learned to tweak the unit more precisely. Apparently, the "factory flat" EQ setting of the GNX-2 looses a tad of treble and bass as compared to a straight guitar, but once you adjust this, you have a perfect match for a straight guitar.

To my further surpirse, the GNX-2 actually seemed to sound better to my ears on many occassions. I was convinced I was listening to the pure sound, and was greatly surprised that I had it backwards.

Whether or not the GNX-2 effects are equivalent or better or worse than separate analogue pedals-- this is a much more difficult question to answer, a certainly a very subjective area. I have found that I can put all of my pedals in front of the GNX-2 input and use them when I like either alone or in combination with the GNX-2, and then I have the best of both worlds. By using a A/B splitter, one could additionally choose to bypass the GNX-2 or make it part of the signal chain.

No problems, although an earlier example of a GNX2 and RP2000, the knobs got a little squirrely after a time.

Got them when I needed a spring and pedal cap once, no problem.

Can you beat it for the money? Especially used? No way.

See my web site for more music and recording info
www.NeilSlade.com
The Amazing Brain Music Adventure

The unit could be designed to be more user friendly, but if you pay attention to what the knobs are doing you will figure it out. Turning the knobs slower than you want to will get you where you want to be, and listen to what they are doing. Working from the factory preset sounds and dialing in from there should get you close, but I found some of the crappy sounding presets to make some of the meanest guitar tones I;ve ever played when tweeked to my liking. Be patient the sound is in the unit.I never looked at the manual, and I never upgraded any software, just opened the box and cranked that muthar up!!

My set up is simple and I recommend yours to be the same for the best sound from this unit. I run the pedal directly into a 400w per channel Yamaha stereo power amp model CP2000 that runs its outputs into a Randall stereo 4x12 cab and my guitar is a strat with Duncan Distortion bridge pickup and 1 volume knob,,,like I said simple!! Let the GNX2 do the work ,it has more juicy crunch available than you need. The distortion can vary from smoother tube styles to rip yur rectum metal! The pedal and effects are very good quality and is quiet. The amp and cabinet modeling is not a reason to own this but the ability to match an artist sound is easier with a pedal like this. The clean sounds are excellent with a wide range of variety from country , blues , or modern rock clean sounds. Is it perfect,,no it is not but in this price range I can play next to $1500 amps and impress there owners as I have already a few times.

It seems to be rock solid after 3 years of on and off jammin but it is a delicate electronic item and should be treated like one. I would'nt hesitate to play in front of 1000 people all nite with this but as anything goes a backup unit would be wise.

Never needed them.

I play alot of hard stuff from classic rock to new metal, mostly I play anything that sounds cool. If it were stolen I'd buy another unit with the same abilities as this has if I could'nt find one of these. Also if you use this unit and come up with something you can't live without write down what the settings are in case you accidently erase it!!! Building it again could be tough.

This isn't really brain surgery. This was my first time ever being able to completely tweak my settings. The RP 200 i had is cool and all but this has much more to it. For basic operation it's rather easy to deal with. For more in depth 'tweaking' you'll have to really read into it and understand this unit. All in all it's not a very challenging piece of equipment to run.

I am using an Ibanez Rg 220 with an EMG 85 in the bridge, an Ibanez acoustic (for use on clean settings only!!), and my main guitar being used is an Epiphone Goth Explorer with an EMG 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck. this goes through the GNX 2 into a Crate 212 amp.

I've used noisy guitars with this unit before just to test it and the noise compressor works perfectly. Due to using EMG's there is little to no noise. Even on high distortion or high fuzz settings you can pretty much turn down the noise level.

The Chorus and Flange effects are my favorite... Although not THE best they are do their job quite well. The Whammy effect is okay but the actual pedal is MUCH better. The pitch effect is kinda useless for me. The Talker is interesting but is kinda hard to use. The wah is alright but rather weak but is suitable until you can get the cash to buy a dunlop crybaby.

I can the sound that I really want. I play metal stuff like Metallica and Ozzy and even heavier stuff like Slayer etc. but I also play a lot of Pink Floyd music. So you can most certainly get the sound you need from this product.

There are only a few complaints I have...
I wish the wah had more of a range.
It would have been nice for the Whammy effect to have more thought placed in it.
And my adapter kicked the bucket after about a year of semi touring, but hey nothing is perfect.

Overall the sound I get running through my equipment is just what I am looking for at this stage in my life.

The reliability besides the adapter dying on me is absolutely wonderful. I'm in marching band and I played guitar in it for two years using this pedal. We went all over the place and mind you this is outdoors so it put up with 100 degree weather into cooler weather and has traveled into 4 different states with me and never failed.

I'm not the easiest person on my equipment but i don't totally thrash it either. This puts up with some heavy beatings. Only one thing use it with a semi-reliable power source. I used an un-reliable source one time and it shut off on me but no harm done to the pedal.

I've never dealt with them. but i'm sure they would be reliable due to their good products.

My main style of music is Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, but I do play EVERYTHING. This pedal, for the price, is probably as good as it is going to get for you. I've been playing for only 4 years but I really do know what I'm talking about 'cuz I've done my research and have played on many pieces of equipment (thank you guitar center lol).

If it were stolen I would be so damn pissed, but I'd prolly just buy one used off of ebay since I know they can take the abuse and it will probably work just as good as my old one if not better.

I chose this over the Boss basically because it had more features in it's price range I loved digitech ever since I used their RP 200A.
I love this pedal, anyone who is looking for a pedal should seriously check this one out. You most likely won't be displeased.

Some of the factory patches are decent, but most of them range from kind of bad to just plain awful. Getting a good sound out of it requires sitting down with the manual and figuring out what each effect can do and how you should set it up. The vast amount of options in this processor can definitely be overwhelming at first. Spending a day or two just fiddling with everything makes it a lot easier later to create good patches because you know where everything is. I've found that I can make good sounding patches fairly quickly now just by knowing the kind of sound I'm looking to make.

I'm running on firmware version 1.3 and haven't tried upgrading it yet.

My current rig is: Fender American Strat -> Digitech GNX2 -> Crate VFX5212 -> Aphex Guitar Xciter (FX Loop)

As seems to be the general consensus with most multi-effect pedals, the wah is pretty weak. I'm considering buying a separate wah so I can just use the main pedal as volume and for other expression purposes. The pitch shifting effects block is also kind of nasty sometimes. One of the things I was looking forward to doing with this pedal was playing downtuned songs without having to retune my guitar. Neither the whammy nor the pitch shifter work for this the way I want; there seems to be a slight delay between what's being played and what's produced through the amp. The volume also seems to drop when using these effects.

Other than those problems, I really like the sounds this unit can produce. Sure, the effects and amps/cabinets don't sound exactly like what they're trying to model, but that's only important for complete tone purists. If you're just looking for a good sound, I think you can get it.

Some of my more musically inclined friends have told me that I sound almost exactly like some of the artists I'm trying to emulate when I use this pedal. For me, that's a great endorsement.

I feel comfortable using this thing for gigs; I've done so a couple of times without damaging the unit. The plastic knobs and pedal buttons worry me a little bit, but I'm not planning on using it as a shot put or a discus anytime soon. I'd honestly be surprised if it just stopped working on me.

I've never had to contact Digitech for support.

My music styles are mostly classic, modern, and pop rock. Even if I didn't play this style of music, I'd wager I could use it fairly well to get the tones I wanted.

Overall, I think this is a great option for people who want to experiment with a bunch of different effects but don't want to buy a ton of individual stompboxes or rack units. I've never been disappointed with it and don't expect to be in the future.

If I lost this processor or had it stolen from me, I wouldn't replace it with another copy...that's more a problem with Digitech having discontinued this product in favor of the bigger processors though. I'd definitely consider buying another GNX product from Digitech again if this happened.

Just submitting another newer review for this pedal. Ease of use is all relative but as a software and elect eng. I find it pretty easy to use both for manual edits and with Genedit s/w.

Mainly a Yamaha Pac1412 SSH w/ Dimarzio EVO bridge and SD Hot rails neck pup. Also use Acoustic (Yam CPX15W), Gibson ES350T jazzbox and Charvel 650XL. The sound quality is very difficult to quantify because now that I have used the pedal in many situations over the last couple of years I have learned how to make it sound much better in all situtations. I liked the models + stompbox from the beginning but certain setups can be a pain - like straight thru a 1x12 combo. But now I use it primarily running through a preamp (Art SGX2000 just running straight 5 band EQ) driving the PA and a stereo TUBE power amp into a 2x12 cab for stage. This setup kicks major ass and the flexibility of the modelling is great. The biggest detractor to sound here is that I don't feel that a lot of the effects are up to par with the modelling but they have proven good enough for decent quality live effects (delays/revs/flange/phaser). Not all that psyched with the Wah - so I always run a separate Wah in front of the GNX2. The biggest mistake I think people make is treating this like a regular pedal - you should really think of it like a preamp meant to be run straight into a PA or good linear power amp. Also my rig really benefits from having a separate preamp with a 5 way EQ - so last seconds tone tweaks are easily attainable as with a normal amp, and since this preamp also drives the PA the entire sound is easily tweaked live.

Never broken on me yet. No digitech pedal has given me a problem (this is my 3rd one).

Dealt with them on the Talker trying to get a setup that would work with the GNX2 running in "effects" or "stompbox" mode. The support guy was really trying to help - so points there - but he didn't seem to know the unit all that well so I'm only rating them a 7.

I wanted to write another review because I now have over two years of experience using this thing and I've got a better idea what it does well and not so well and also how to get the best sounds out of it in different situations. When people write reviews that say these (or almost any of the modern modelling pedals suck) I think they are simply uneducated about what a modelling pedal is supposed to do and how they work best. Some of the best situations I've had are when I take nothing to a gig except the pedal and the guitar. Now I do miss the preamp setup I mentioned but I know what user patches I have that work great without any tweaking through the PA and stick mostly to those 4 or 5 and I'm always happy.

I will probably cough up the dough for a GNX3000 in the next year as I am so happy overall with the pedal, the durability and most of all the modelling quality - especially the addit. stompbox models and warping feature. These together give me a lot of flexibility and LIVE tweaking with the pedal in the "effects" mode. The lack of ability to select the V-Switch control binding is a major bummer IMO. I would like to be able to select the V-Switch to activate more than just the Wah, i.e. activate Whammy/IPS or Talker functions would be a great enhancement IMO.

It's easy to get a (basic)good sound and even easier using computer via midi, but if you want to sound more professional it'll take more time.

Editing patches is easy if you read the manual first.

Manual is ok.

Firmware: 1,6a(latest).

I'm using Cort X11 and Vantage strat guitars and Yamaha G 100 head& H|H -412bl(200watt)cabinet with it.

It's not noisy at all if you understand how it works(good noise reduction<2 types>.

Some effect's are better than others but not quite studio quality as Digitech claim's(basic effect's like delay's,reverb's, choruses... are just great).

Yes. You can get your favorite artist sounds using gnx easily (Vai, Yngwie, Jeff Beck and i think all the other's too).

Some of the distortion sound's are very convincing(nice rectifier), some are just ok. Stompbox modelling's ok quality but not exact.

The unit cover is made of metal, so i think it will last a lifetime. I think i could use it on a gig without a backup.

They say that Digitech does their job. Easy updates can be found on the internet.

I play hard rock, melodic heavy and rock/pop and gnx2 performs well in this area.

I have played for 15 years.

If it were stolen, i'd buy a new one.

I have compared Gnx2 with Vamp2 and both are good but i like gnx's amp. modelling better and Vamp's cab. modelling is better than gnx's.

Warping 2 different amp's/ cab's is my favorite feature.

Gnx2 is making it easy,, getting a great sound for recording.

Go buy it.

not terribly difficult to use considering everything in this unit. but, some things were confusing like where to edit amps vs. effects. the manual is only average so the learning curve can be a little steep. the GenEdit software makes it a whole lot easier, good stuff that.

i've owned this for a year. originally i meant to use the gnx2 direct to soundboard in a live situation. it replaced a zoom unit i was using. if you're not very demanding tone-wise it works okay for this. i would never record with this unit.

generally it's not noisy direct to board. however, on patches that have high gain the noise gate works poorly at the tail end of a sustained note. it cuts in, in a very annoying manner. don't expect to get any warmth from the modulation effects. the delay gets in the way big time if the feedback is set too high and i don't mean high in it's stated range.

played through an amp it sucks. it makes a lot of noise and it's just horrible in an effects loop. the "target system setup" sounds like nothing more than EQ variations and it's really bassy on a couple of the settings. i think it's just a gimmick.

if you use the GenEdit software the amp morphing is cool. the amp sims are probably the best thing going for this unit. don't get me wrong, it doesn't compare to real tubes (not even close), but for the price you get a cool toy.

the stomp box simulations are okay. there are distinct differences from one to the other that reflect the differences in the real ones. i think digitech comes the closest to reality in this area. i say this relative to other aspects of the gnx2, not that it really compares to real stomp boxes.

it has not broken down on me.

never used them.

this was a step up from my zoom unit, but that's all. if you're just starting out on guitar or you have little money to spend on gear the gnx2 is a cool toy. but, sooner or later you'll want more tone-wise. this is especially true if you've never played a good tube amp or tried other more dedicated effects units. this is my experience...play with these all-in-one boxes then realize you need to spend more money on the real thing.

Even with the manual this baby is extreamly hard to use. Trying to figure this thing out is like trying to learn rockect science over night. The manual sucks. They upgraded to a GNX3 right after I bought mine for full price then the guitar store closed down (where it was purchased) right after I bought it so there was no returning it.

I gonna keep this short by saying 9 out of 10 of the many effects on this pedal suck ass, even when you tweak am to your liking (which isn't easy). I basically only used a couple pre sets and a few settings that I modeled up. Sure theres alot of effects, (pretty cheesy most of em) but trust one of Gnx2 is very out dated and just down right sucks. If your gonna conjure up some signature sounds this pedal might be for you, at the end of the day though the effects are going to be obsolete and cheesy like chedder.

You can not depend on this pedal! After 4 months of using it the wah pedal broke. Next up was the whole pedal that broke (for unknown reasons) about a year after I bought it. Relying on this thing is like relying on a hooker to be faithful.

Digitech your a bunch of jerks. They never returned my emails, never, my warranty didn't meen anything at the end of the day. Digitech needs to learn to be more responsible for their peice of crap pedals.

It does nothing I want it to, it just breaks. If it was stolen I'd laugh about it. I hate it, lying dead on the floor it just gets in the way now. Once again I must say this thing sucks, everything about it sucks. DO NOT BUY THIS PEDAL!

I give the ease of use about a four in comparison to most of the other multi effects out there. The knobs don't have any play in them, one small twitch and you're way past where you want to be. I able to edit the patches once I figured it out, but I really didn't like the complex, second EQ that is madatory with every patch. There must have been a crack smoking team of money hungry business-men coming up with all the ideas for this thing.

Check out what I wrote Digitech: If there was a zero rating option, I would choose that instead.-Buy Single Boss pedals instead.

I've had this GNX2 for about 2&1/2 years. First of all, I was pissed that this was the highest model out on the market during christmas, after you all sold the hell out of them, a month later, I find that that there was a GNX3. Just caring about your profits, and not what the consumer really wants, and for that I think you're jerks. Business, business business, I'll show you where my business goes.

O.K. to add to this, I find I can't use any effect on there without first going through the EQ. Let me make this clear, I don't want to use your crappy EQ, Digitech! That really TEEEED me off.

Amp simulation? HHHHAAAAAAAA!

I'm angry to even mention every time I use the bypass feature, I can hear the difference between that and plugging into the amp directly. That agitated me even more.

Too add to this mess that you call an effects pedal, the amp trigger works half the time, ARRRRGH!

Now the damn thing beep-beeps every time I go into bypass mode, and makes a horrible sound and volume drop when I simply tap the volume knob.

Your products are gold-plated crap in a sturdy metal box. Nothing more. It would make more use as a bonfire starter than a multi-effects box. TO HELL WITH THIS RYAN'S BUFFET OF AN EFFECTS BOX, PROVIDING A LOT OF CRAP AT AN AFFORDALE PRICE. FROM NOW ON, ANY WEBSITE WHERE I CAN MAKE A COMMENT ON THIS BOX WILL BE BOMBARDED BY MY CANDOROUS DISDAIN, RECOMMEDING BOSS, ROLAND, OR ANY OF YOUR COMPETITORS IN LESS THAN A HEARTBEAT. SOMEONE NEEDS TO BUY YOU OUT!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Don't do it! Please! I forgot to add that the first editions of the power cords had flex tips. This is a horrible mistake. It broke and I had to buy another one for fifty dollars. That's a lot of money to me

I don't speak to people who did me wrong!

I pray that no one on this entire face of the earth ever buys this pedal ever again. I HATE this thing. The sounds create an imbalance within my soul and I feel sick inside. I can hear the profits in this box. It really hurts me that the art of making music for love has turned into a big money making scandal. Anyone who is os inclined to make a career out of music must deal with rascals at every corner. Trust is obsolete. This pedal is an embodiment of all that is wrong in the music business. WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD GUYS GONE??? Please email me before 11-30-05 if you have any desire to buy this thing, I'll try to show you what I know about it.

The ease of use on this unit is like flying the space shuttle. Even with reading the manual cover to cover it is one of the hardest units to program that I've ever come in contact with. I own a Digitech 2120VGS and it is hands down the best sounding easiest to use professional grade processor I've ever owned. That said I had both a boss GT3 & GT6 but unpleased with some of the distorted tones I decided to buy the GNX2. What a mistake.

Ok heres where this unit really stinks. You can get excellent clean tones with this unit no problem but thats it. When trying to add just a little overdrive the amp either had too much bite or not enough to get through to the final speaker. The heavy overdrive is OK but all of the other units I've ever owned either sounded better or at least as good as this. Also this thing has two eq's and one cannot be turned off or bypassed which really sucks. Each amp setting has the basic bass, mid, treble settings great. But then within each patch there is another parametric eq that has the same settings plus the high and low end frequencies are adjustable. This seems like a good idea on the surface but you will tweak these for hours to get the tone just right. My preference is to run into a combo amp with the bass, mid, and treble setting all flat and let the processor control the tone but this one is almost impossible to use. The 2120VGS has an adjustable eq I think its a 5 or 7 band but you can set it flat at 0 or bypass it. This makes the tone come from the power source and the preamp bass, mid, treble settings. Anyway it is much easier to use and sounds a million times better. Now as for the stomp box models they are way off the mark compared to the original models. The point to all of this rambling is I have owned many Digitech products over the years from the (I think can't remember all of the model names)DSP 21 Legend, The model that also came out before the Legend, Valve FX, and finally the 2120VGS, also have used the RP7 and RP10 all of them blow this unit out of the water. Digitech really screwed up a good thing they had with the RP line when the discontinued for this piece of crap!

As for this category Digitech has always produced excellent quality built gear and mine being 1&1/2 years old has never failed. I bought a back up power supply because the one that came with my Boss GT6 gave out just before a live performance and I had no back up. Needless to say my back up power supply for the GNX2 is still in its box unused.

Once again this is something Digitech has always excelled at so no complaints here. I've upgraded online to the latest software the only draw back is I had to buy a $50 midimate to connect which I believe Digitech has now made some of the GNX models USB compatible. Good Move.

Overall this unit stinks it doesn't do what I want it to most of the time. I'm going to replace it but I just don't know with what yet. I may try to find and old RP7 or better model on ebay also I've heard good things about the Line6 XT Live so I may try it. Overall I would say that Digitech did the guitar community a great injustice by discontinuing the original valve driven RP line and discontinuing the rackmount 2120VGS. Please Digitech bring it back I know this unit at $950 didn't sell big but realize the people buying this were looking for studio quality so its a small market but you guys kicked butt with this unit.

Read the manual thoroughly. You must understand this unit to use it. Then, and only then, you can get what you want. It is a bit hard to digest, but if you are smart enough, you can get this thing to work.

I like the sound I get. I play an ESP EC-1000 with SD JB/59 pickups direct into a PA system, and also into Peavey Transtube 112 EFX amp. I formerly played a Peavey Raptor Plus (now thats my backup guitar) Noise? What noise?
Effects are better than whats on the Peavey amp.
I had the chance to A/B this to a Fender Twin Reverb with a Nashville B-bender Telecaster. I played around for hours back and forth, (and also comparing the guitar to my Peavey Raptor Plus). The Fender twin reverb amp simulator is VERY close to the real fender twin. Only the most stuck up fart tarts would not like the comparison. And also, the Telecaster is superior to my Raptor Plus in every way.
I like the effects. But I had to tweak them to get what I want.
I used this to play out last year without much double check of patch levels. I jacked up a couple of songs because the levels were wrong. You can be fooled by how it sounds in your basement studio. Get a good sound check of each patch level!!

I hope. One year and ticking.

na

I play blues, classic rock, oldies, and country. This is a good match for what I do.

FOLLOW UP TO DIGITECH GNX PEDAL/GENESIS BOX and
ELIMINATING HISS

QUESTION:
Hi Neil

I read your review of the GNX2. Thank you for taking the time to figure that out, and for sharing what you learned along the way!

I have a question for you - I also noticed the hiss when using the "Direct" amp/cabinet model and will use your suggestion to turn on the compressor in an effort to eliminate that. I do have a question though. Did you turn down either the Gain or Level settings, which both default to 99 (maximum), on the "Direct" amp model? I think that having both of those maxed has caused me a bit of unwanted distortion to the bass notes on my clean sounds. I turned both of those settings down to about 75 (but didn't have the compressor on as you've suggested). I noticed my clean sound improved but unfortunately it made my gain channel of my amp sound horrible. It just killed the signal.

Any suggestions you might have would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!
David Mock

MY REPLY:
David,

Yes, this hiss is always present because of the potential output level not being reached when the compressor is not engaged-- it is latent output signal strength that is only engaged when the compressor level is boosted (which is really not a boost but a decrease in non-compressor engagement so that the compressor has some headroom to work with when its turned on)

The amp level needs to be up all the way to decrease noise, but the gain will act as an overdrive and distort the signal, exactly its function. ON the Genesis (and I believe GNX as well) boxes- you have three levels to contend with 1) gain 2) amp level 3) OUTPUT level.

1) Gain will boost, and hense distort actual tone, although it will also increase volume
2)"Amp level" (insiside the GNX or Genesis) wil boost volume, but should not distort tone, since it is POST effects-- with the exeption being if the level to the actual physical amplifier is overdriving the amp
3) Output level can and should be set low, since overdriving the physical amplifier will distort the tone.

Ideally for minimizing hiss from the GNX/Genesis,
1) raise the compressor level high- and adjust to the level of compression you want- either zero actual effect or whatever level you want. If you just turn it off, you're going to be the victim of unecessary hiss in these boxes using clean and semi-clean sounds.
2) adjust the amp level so that your patch matches the relative volume you want to all your other patches
3) minimize the output level from the box altogether to avoid overdriving your physical amp and altering the tone.


Any of these boxes, GNX or Genesis are pre-amps, so going into an amp channel, the output should ideally be exactly the same as from a guitar cord-- i.e VERY low signal level- UNLESS you want distortion-- exactly the function of a stomp box.

Neil Slade
The Amazing Brain MUSIC Adventure
www.neilslade.com

Courtesy of NEIL SLADE BRAIN MUSIC www.NeilSlade.com

Not bad, but not so easy since the controls are multi function- one button or knob has many functions, and it takes some getting used to-- but that's the price of digital stuff-- menu driven to keep costs down, to keep items compact-- you sacrifice ease and simplicity. In a live situation, this makes things difficult if you are not simply using your presets- and this is where plain separate analog effects are much better- albeit bulky. Instant grab and adjust-- no menu scrolling.

THIS IS THE BIG BIG ISSUE with digital effects, and the RP and GNX products. The sound quality is good-- but not as steller as straight through to amp and quality stomp boxes.

The difference is possibly not too relevant in a loud bar with simple settings. One needs to realize that the more complex your signal becomes, the less distinctive it will be around a lot of noise and competing noises-- add lots of effects, and your tone loses cutting power. A simple good tone, clean or distorted- this will cut through most. Start adding reverbs, and delays, and modulations-- it may sound great at home or in your car or with earphones-- on stage, it will just be mud.

AT home and in the studio-- PAY ATTENTION HERE-- a direct signal is also best. I spent considerable time comparing the sound of my guitar plugged straight into my Fender Bassman Blackface and Fender Champ, and compared this with both the processed and essentially bypassed or straight sound going through the GNX and Genesis boxes. The GNX does a very good job at reproducing the sound of the guitar-- keep in mind the GNX and Genesis devices SAMPLE YOUR GUITARS SOUND, THEN SPIT OUT NOT THE ORIGINAL ANALOG SIGNAL, BUT A DIGITAL CLONE/RECORDING OF THE SIGNAL. It is a CD quality sample, granted, at 44.1K, but nevertheless- its really not the sound of your guitar-- its a digital recording of your guitar, which the device can process in a number of ways to give you guitar plus reverb/eq/delay/modulation etc.

In this sense, the Digitech devices have come a long way in many years, and they get VERY close to giving you a pure sound. But its not perfect, not quite. For one thing-- if you turn up the gain and amp volume on the direct settings (no amp simulators) you will STILL NOT GET THE VOLUME that you would if you just plug your guitar into the amp. To get the same level, you have to crank up the GNX/Genesis OUTPUT pot-- and at the same volume level-- YOU GET NOTICABLE hiss/noise not present using a plain guitar cord into amp. Plug it into the GNX/GENESIS-- to get the same loudness, you will get some extra hiss.

Of course, if you are using one of the presets that has fuzz/overdrive/amp simulation these presets or settings encorporate methods of overdriving the sound and you don't notice the extra noixe, because its buried under the effect volume. However, if you are trying to accomplish a CLEAN sound-- it will not be as clean as a good direct to amp or through a quality stomp box clean-- all that Digitech electronics costs you a little extra hiss.

There IS HOWEVER A WAY AROUND THIS-- Turn on the COMPRESSOR effect--, that is where you are losing gain--- turn up the GAIN (all the way is fine). Then set the THRESHOLD as high as it will go, and use the least amount of compression, say 1.2:1. What this will accomplish is this will add volume without adding any compression (unless you REALLY play extremely hard), and raise the overall volume level. You can then lower the OUTPUT pot, and VOILA, you'll match the same level as a straight from guitar to amp signal and you won't be adding any of that hiss when you're using a clean sound on the GNX/GENESIS.

This should be something Digitech should put in their manuals from the very start- apparently, the devices SUBTRACT volume so that the COMPRESSOR EFFECT has something to work with. Unfortunately, this adds his to all the clean sounds, and it's not necessary. But its a fact. So, if you want to match the clean output volume of a direct guitar without any extra hiss, you'll have to make these compressor effect adjustments--- THIS IS TRUE OF EVERY DIGITECH EFFECT, GNX1, GNX2, GNX3, GNX4, and every past effect.

NOW-- given that you can eliminate this extra hiss this way-- how does the bypassed or clean sound of the Digitech pedals compare with a direct to amp sound? It's ALMOST the same.

I spent HOURS comparing the two (and three and four).

The digital reproduction is good, very good. But in the end, some of the SPARKLE is los

I've had some issues with the control knobs on a couple of Digitech devices-- they get squirrely.

I think they just use cheap mountings for their knobs- which seem to be the weak point. It could be worse, but it could be better.
What do you what for this kind of money, eh?

Not Mackie or Yamaha type quality-- one of the weak points. Probably will work-- but don't abuse these things.

Once had to get a new pedal cover, no big deal. Sufficient support.

I play everything, from symphonic music, to Captain Beefheart noise.

7.5 Good value for the money, maybe even excellent.

However, these are NOT perfect devices, but really nice tools, and are flexible and can do a lot.

Keep in mind that a good saxophone costs THOUSANDS, and good guitar is expensive (though I've got a killer Ibanez Art core that sounds amazing at $350. I own a Gibson 1980 Les Paul Standard, 1996 ES335, Ibanex Art Core, Martin 000c16C, 1977 Fender Stratocaster, Ibanez Nylon jazz acoustic, 1967 Hofner Bass, Fender Bassman Blackface, Fender Champ, Peavey solid state keyboard, guitar and bass amps.

Very Easy to Use. The Front Controls are intuitive, and with GenEdit Software you can get whatever sound you want. You can easily download lots of patches from digitech community page. My unit came with the latest firmware. The manual is good.

Im using a 2004 fender std strat, gnx2 and a Peavey KB/A 100
Not noisy at all, however some extremely high distors combined with high volume will cause this horrible feedback.
Im not an expert in effects cause before this unit all I had used was the distor and reverb of my old Marshall mg30cd. But I believe effects are very well done. Not the same for the presets included, as many people said they suck. Youll have to tweak them to get the right tone you want, this will be a long tedious task. And depends a lot on the target system you are using. Some presets may sound great with a small amp, but with a big amps they may sound muddy.
With a lot of tweaking you can get exactly the sound of your favorite artist.
I give it an 8 because its factory effects are bad (6), but once you tweak them you get exactly what you want (10)

The unit case seems built as a tank, however a friend of mine that had the same model (gnx2) told me that after a while his power supply stopped working.

Never dealt with them. The web site is a great resource.

Spend some time with it and youll get a good tone. Spend a huge amount of time with it (use GenEdit to reduce time) and youll get exactly what you want. Also make sure you visit the community pages and test some patches to get some good ideas. It it were stolen I would probably wait some time until the new edition of GNX2, the GNX2000, gets out and have enough money to buy it.

Against my better judgement, I bought a GNX2. I had been a big fan of Digitech's smaller pedals for years but with the exception of the PDS20/20, their multi-effects left much to be desired.

The last one I tried, the RP300A was simply a toy and I returned it, swearing off Digitech forever. Then I heard good things about the GNX's, so I went down to GC and tried one. Admittedly, I was in a hurry and it was noisy as hell in there but the presets sounded decent enough so I pulled the trigger.

Editing is very akward at first. As stated below the matrix takes some getting used to but once you do, it's very simple.

The manual is adequate.

My unit had the latest firmware.

I found the unit to be very quiet with good noise reduction. But as stated many times before, the effects are muddy. I found myself constantly jacking up the treble freqs on almost every preset.

The distortions are just plain awful. This has been a Digitech signature for as long as I can remember. They just don't get it. No amount of tweaking/warping could get rid of the brittle, shrill digital fizz. I'm no tube junky but for the life of me I couldn't get a warm overdrive out of this thing.

The mods are ok. Reverbs and delays way below average.

BTW: Unlike alot of reviewers here; I spent considerable time and effort exploring every possible setting. I had 30 days to return it and used 25 of those days.

Built surprisingly solid but I wouldn't dream of gigging with it simply because of the poor sound quality. This is built for home jamming maybe some recording, not gigging.

Surprisingly helpful. To a point.

I was never able to get it working on my Mac. The tech's tried but through no fault of their own they ran out of options because quite simply, it really isn't designed to work on a Mac.

It is advertised as such but the Mac must be booted into OS9/Classic. It will not run in OSX running Classic. Even still I couldn't get it to run at all. Fortunately I also own a PC. No problems there and it is a nice feature but I just wanted the ability to share presets and backup my own. The rest of it just seems like overkill for serious tweakers.

I've been playing for over 20 years. Mostly Fenders. Surf/Country/Post Punk/Some Metal/Classic rock/Rockabilly and Psychobilly. I played this through a Fender Twin, a Vox AC30 but mostly through headphones.

I've been looking for a good m/e stomper for a couple years now. I've tried the Boss ME50 (Crappy distortion), the GT6 (A little too much pedal for my use but probably my second pick behind the Tonelab SE), the Digitech RP300A (As previously mentioned, nothing but a toy), the Korg AX1500G (which I now wish I hadn't sold) and the PODxt which isn't a pedal board but I decided to try it anyways. (Painfully small menu driven) I thought about the XTLive but it too looks like more than I need.

Through all this I keep coming back to my Korg PX4. It is not a pedal board but the sound qaulity and modeling accuracy far surpass any of the aforementioned units. As far as modeling and effects, I think Vox/Korg have got it down. I think I'll probably just save up for a Tonelabs SE - more pedal than I need but they sound amazing.

This was the final straw with Digitech.

I'm done.

the GNX-2 is alot like most multi effects units out there as far as ease of use and user interface and whatnot. it took me awhile to figure out how to edit and dave patches and stuff--but once i got it its really easy. on definately cool thing is that you can create your own custom amps and save those for later use. another thing is (under user mode) you can rename and move locations of factory settings in any order you want. really cool.

im using an epiphone les paul std. a ORIGINAL '67 Gibson 331, and an ampeg gemeni 1. live i go staight into the board. i think it sounds great both ways. obviously, its gonna need tweaked differently for going straight in though. it also sounds good w/ my acoustic for delays and mods. the wah, i must say is pretty weak...passable but no crybaby by any means. the mods are pretty good....the flanger is just like my old boss bf-2. the delays aren't to bad either. its also very quite and you can get some good, controllable feedback as well. i really like the 'stacked' preset and the 'santana(#10)' but there are some retarted ones in there too......like the riffomatic. COME ON!!!!!! STUPID!!!!!!!! i guess if your going for ultimate sound quality....and arent worried about a floor unit, get the podxt for the same price....its not miles ahead, but it is a little better in a studio situation.

cant afford a back-up its made of metal......but its no boss now is it???

never talked to them.......but the kid at guitar center was really helpfull.

im in a praise and worship band at our church but i really love every thing from blues(yeah!!!!!!!) to some hard punk( brand new) to incubus and some good jazz as well. it fits me well and i think this thing is probably the best peice of gear ove ever purchased.

For as awful and as digital as this thing sounds, it should have 3 presets and 3 presets only - Suck, Bogus, and REFUND.

I've taken dumps with better tone and robustness than this sad excuse for a cheap kids toy. The clean tones are truly pathetic, and the distortion is hilariously BAD. I cannot believe anyone could give this thing more than a two?!?! Come on people. What the hell are you comparing this to? A pod or some other garbage fake ass modeler? Please. This may be one of the worst sounding pieces of shit I have ever had the displeasure of playing licks through. It was time wasted that I will never get back, and my ears are permanently scarred from the experience.

Wouldn't know. Since I got it free, I was tempted to make an ashtray out of it. I would imagine at that point it would not be very reliable.

Dunno. All of these companies are the same.

For the price this goes for, do yourself a favor and buy a good used tube amp and a put shitty fx unit in the loop. The tone of the tube amp will be superior, and the effects are just there for "filler".

No sweat.

You might laugh, but I'm playing a Larivee accoustic with twin pickups through the unit. I've got twenty presets dedicated to various accoustic sounds I want. Does exactly what I want. Particularly effective are the octave doublers and pitch offsets; makes my playing sound very rich. I'm not playing at jet-engine volumes, so signal/noise ratio is particularly important: the sound is extremely clean. Everybody who plugs in wants one---and wants my presets. I won't give up my presets, though.

Dependable.

Company support is absolutely pathetic.

Heavy folk, jazz, and nasty blues. Yeah, I'd get a new one.

The GNX2 is fairly easy to program.....the only problem I have with the interface is the "scrolling parameter values" that are necessitated by the single-line display.....it's a pain to try to remember what knob controls what parameter on what cell of the matrix, and waiting for the parameter name to scroll by (so you can tell what's supposed to happen when you turn a given knob) is a pain if you've got band mates waiting for you to tweak a sound during a rehearsal - I wouldn't try to tweeze a patch while in front of an audience. Maybe in future versions Digitech could put in push button pots so that when you push the pot down, it would bring up the name of the parameter that knob controls. Once you know the parameter though, programming couldn't be simpler.

The manual is OK, I've seen worse and better.

I'm using firmware version 1.3 (upgraded from 1.1 which was what I received the GNX2 with). The GenEdit software (which I run on a Mac G3 laptop under MacOS 9.2.2, and drive the GNX2 with a MiniMacMan midi interface) has proven extremely useful and easy to use....I spend a lot of time editing and the software makes it easy to keep track of the numerous versions I tend to come up with. It also makes it very easy to keep different batches of user presets handy - I've made several different sets for each of the bands I play with - it only takes a couple of minutes to load a completely different set of 64 patches. Great!

I use the GNX2 in FX mode rather than the default Bank mode....there's ALWAYS a brief glitch switching between presets in Bank mode (just the nature of most multi-fx boxes, I'm afraid), but by using the FX mode you've got instant access to major tone changes WITHOUT GLITCHES - and I tend to prefer a pedalboard-type control setup rather than "one button for everything", anyway.

Some minor quibbles I have with the GNX2:
I wish that the Reverb had a dedicated switch for FX mode like Delay does - as it is, you're "stuck" with a reverb that's either "on" or "off" as part of the patch structure. But at this price point it's something I can live with.

The V-Switch sensitivity can be a tad tricky to set, at least for me - too high and you can inadvertently switch on your Wah while using the Whammy effect, too low and you can't get the Wah to reliably engage when you want it.

Matching levels between patches can be tedious, as the best way I've found to adjust output volume is through the Gain settings for the Amp Models (I set levels using the mixing console meters to assure that everything is within a nominal operating range).....I try to send the sound guy as consistent a volume level as possible and let him do his job, which is to mix the sound.....but the upside is, once the levels have been set, they're ALWAYS gonna be right - another advantage of digital gear. I also use the Amp switch for solos - I make a duplicate of the Amp Model with a different Gain setting so that I can always punch thru the rest of the band when playing single-note lines.

There are times I wish I could use more effects processors at a time, or could change the order of the effects, but nothing that I can't live without - especially considering the price point of this unit.

Currently I use the GNX2 with a 1976 Univox "Lawsuit" Les Paul copy outfitted with DiMarzio humbuckers and a 1985 Bently Series 10 project guitar that's been kitted out with Schecters. I used to use a 1972 Marshall Super Lead 100 thru a custom-built 4x10 open-back cab and a custom 6X10 closed cab - but nowadays I just send the GNX2 signal directly to the PA, after splitting the 1/4" outputs to feed a power amp driving a pair of slant cab monitors so I can hear myself. Much nice to hear your sound from in front of you than from behind....and you get a "clean stage" look to boot.

As long as I set the Target System Setup to "Direct", everything sounds great. Not so happy with the "tailored for combo amp" settings, they just don't sound quite right to my ears - plus I prefer not having to haul my vintage Marshall around anyway.....

While on the subject of Marshalls - the GNX does an EXCELLENT job of replicating the sound of my old setup and can do it more reliably than the "real thing"....maybe I'm just picky, but it always seemed to me that the Marshall's sound can vary from night to night, depending on temperature, humidity, phases of the moon or alignment of the planets, my girlfriends' mood, WHATEVER.
But the GNX2 is dead-on every time.

I've got a couple of noisy presets, but these are presets I've built with INSANE amounts of gain. On the whole the unit is very very quiet.

I'm a big fan of the Rotary effect - the only way it could be better is for it to be modeled after the Korg G4 Rotary Speaker Simulator which has user-adjustable parameters for horn acceleration/deceleration and mic placement. Between the Rotary and Detune settings I can pretty much nail ANY Leslie sounds I've heard on records.

I've been able to replicate any artists' sound I've cared to go after, so far....particularly David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, even though he uses single-coil Strats and all my guitars have humbuckers. The humbucker>single-coil Pickup Simulator is simply outstanding - I now have access to more tonal variations than I've ever had in my life!

Also - using the GNX2's Whammy/IPS functions together allow me to do something I've not been able to do since my old Electro-Harmonix Micro-Synthesizer died - I can set up a patch that has an octave above, and octave below and the straight pitch simultaneously! Three pitches from one note! Really wakes up everybody when I kick it in for a solo......heeHEEEEEEE.....

The ambience effects (delay & reverb) are good and usable but not particularly outstanding...that said, I've done a fair amount of recording in ProTools and I rarely (if ever) find it necessary to use any FX plug-ins (or outboard gera, for that matter) to do something the GNX can't do on its own.

I had high hopes for the Talker effect - I had a Heil Talkbox in the past and was eager to get that function without rattling my molars around in my skull, but sadly, it just ain't quite the same....close enough for rock 'n' roll in performance situations, but just doesn't quite cut it for recording. Oh well...at least it'll keep my dentist in business ; )

The Ya Ya and SynthTalk effects are interesting novelties but not particularly usable for me. Same with the Envelope Filter.

The Chorus/Mod effects are good. I use the Phaser quite a bit. Not quite as good as my old MXR Phase 100 but definitely musical.

The Tremolo and Vibrato effects are good for all those old surf-guitar and rockabilly tunes, too. The Tremolo does a particularly good job of replicating the sound of my '66 Fender Deluxe.

The stompbox models are OK, but I get most of my sound from the Amp Models.

The Compressor and EQ on the unit are nothing short of outstanding, and are the real key to getting great sounds from the GNX2. Anyone who says they can't get usable sounds from it just hasn't mastered the use of these modules.

The GNX is built like a tank. But rock 'n' roll is rock 'n' roll, so I keep my old Korg AX30G processor handy just in case something truly drastic occurs....like a lightning strike.

I don't worry about the GNX2 going down on its own accord - but I do worry about "the unexpected", like getting beer spilled into it or a power surge/low-voltage condition. Most clubs simply aren't properly wired for AC, so that's ALWAYS a variable. (Hey, I know I'm paranoid - the question is: Am I paranoid ENOUGH? LOL)

The only contact I've had is to make a couple of suggestions for the next-generation GNX boxes, and I got a quick reply from them on that. Don't know about how they deal with problems though so I'll keep comment in reserve.....

I play a wide variety of styles and the GNX has been able to handle almost everything I've thrown at it....there are a couple of patches on my Korg AX30G that I haven't been able to replicate on the GNX2, so I can't quite give it Digitech 10 for that reason.

I've been playing for 35 years, and have gone through a long long list of gear - Marshall, Fender, Traynor, SG Systems, Peavey, Crate and Randall amps and Fender, Gibson, Kramer, Ovation ans Travis Bean guitars...along with stompboxes of every make and description - so I feel pretty qualified about commenting on the GNX2 after having owned and used it for 7 months now.

If it were stolen or lost, I'd HAVE to replace it...but I'd probably go with a GNX4 for the improvements it's made on the GNX line in regard to USB connectivity. Most of the things I'd want on the GNX2 have been added to the GNX3 and GNX4. I love the compactness and quality of the unit. The only thing I truly hate about it is the power supply, but I guess that having that transformer outside the box is what keeps it quiet and inexpensive.

I've used the Digitech RP200, the Korg AX30G and have tried several other multi-effect boxes (ART & Boss among them) and the GNX is the best bang-for-the-buck as far as my sound is concerned.

It definitely helps me make music....I can't imagine doing without it, now.

With a bit of tweaking, you can really get some amazing sounds out of this unit. Editing patches is as simple as configuring your amp/cabinet combination, going through the effects menus and configuring them with a few knobs and clicking the "Store" button three times. I especially enjoy how easy this is, because I am a blind guitar player. Since I can't read the menus, saving amp combos and patches with the knobs is a big plus. There were a few typoes in the manual, and it probably needs to be updated to reflect a few of the minor changes to the unit's firmware, but otherwise it was very informative. I believe I'm running firmware 1.3, but since I'm not able to read the display, I can't confirm this.

I mainly use this unit with a couple of Ibanez firestars I picked up a few years back along with a Mesa Boogy combo amplifier. I'm still tweaking the GNX2 to get the right sound for Metallica, Randy Rhoads, 38 Special, ACDC, and other classic rock bands. I do know that it's possible to get these sounds because other presets have been made and posted to the Digitech member area for the GNX2. The only effect that I don't like is the Ya-ya when used with the expression pedal. Everything else really sounds great, and in quite a few cases better than the Line 6 Pod.

I haven't gone gigging with this unit yet, but it's built nice and rugged. If you've ever seen the old RP1, this machine is just as solidly built. I don't think I'd need a backup unit, though if I could afford it I'd have another GNX2 ready in case something unexpected happened to this one.

I mainly play classic rock/metal, and this unit does all I need it to. I upgraded from the RP300, and damn! I keep being impressed with how much better this unit sounds in comparison. I've been playing for around six years, and the acquisition of new gear is not that often. Thus I own a Fendor Strat along with two Ibanez firestars and a Mesa Boogy combo. I love the fact that although this is a digital processor, the majority of the settings are altered using analog-style knobs. As I said above, it's great for those who can't see the display, and the added bonus of having the effects and amp models being affected in real time let you hear exactly what you're doing. Though I have perfect pitch, I wish there were some sort of audible tuner on the thing for those times when I'm in a really loud club and need to tune up really quickly... maybe something that only came out the headphone jack? If my GNX2 got stolen, I'd sure as hell replace it with another one. As for other possibilities, I checked out the Johnson J-Station and the Line 6 Pod. I was pretty impressed with both, but as we all know Johnson has gone bankrupt, and the Pod is a little more pricy. The Pod Pro 2.0 cost the same as the GNX2, but the GNX2 has so much more to offer like stomp-button presets for gigging, distortion stomp-box modeling, and more variety of things you can do with your sound that it was clearly a better bang for the buck. Granted, I could probably achieve the same with the Pod along with their $200 foot controller, but honestly! I'm a college student, and $500 is a bit much just to get a good effects unit and a floor controller.
For those skeptics out there, go demo this thing yourself at Guitar Center or a similar music store. There are also some great demos at the Digitech GNX2 Member Music area, so definitely go check that place out as well. Anyone who says you can't use this is full of it, because the manual is very straight-forward and to the point. Furthermore, a blind man can program the machine, so you don't even have to see the display to get what you want from it. This is an awesome machine, and my only regret is that I wasted my money on the RP300 when I could have gotten this instead. Ah well, that mistake has finally been corrected. BTW, I'm selling my RP300, anyone want it?

It seems to be hard at the beginning,but after spending 30 minutes with the manual you can become a master.

I am using this pedal with an Ibanez RG370DX nd Marshall MG15CDR.I had DOD fx86 Death Metal before this.I was happy with my tone but it was very noisy.After buying GNX2,which includes a noise gate,I was extremely happy with the silence(until i hit a string of course :)).I don't use effects so much but they are great,like distortion,wah and everything else in this processor.I had managed to get very close to the tone of In Flames,Dream Theater and Death.You can find Death and Dream Theater from Digitech's sound community but I had created In Flames tome myself.Here it is:

Amp:Rectified
Cabinet:British 4x12
Bass:-2
Mid:3
Mid Frequency:1100 hz
Treble:6
Treble Frequency:6950 hz
Gain:80

Set the reverb,etc. as you wish.

My favourite feature in this processor is the whammy/ips.I don't have to change my tuning again because i can set it from standard to B with it!.Just select whammy,4th down and set the whammy pedal to 82 for C,99 for B,62 for C#.For D,select rev2down and set the whammy pedal to 0.Great if you are playing Death,In Flames,Opeth,Dark Tranquillity etc. with a guitar with tremolo system.

Check the official site for details about other great features.

It is extremely reliable..but!I had a problem once.I had played it about 7-8 hours at my friend's house and had a break about 1 hours,then continued playing at another friend's house.First,the wah effect started switching on/off by itself(i think there is a problem with the v switch).Then GNX2 had started shutting down and opening again by itself!I had closed it and waited for it to cool down.It hadn't done that thing again yet,but wah switches on rarely.

I haven't dealt with Digitech yet.

I have been playing electric guitar for 4 months(2 years of classical guitar experience before that)and I have improved a lot since the day I had started electric guitar.My music style is mainly melodic death metal,but sometimes i play death and progressive.I love this one so much because it has everything in it,and it is extremely useful.I would recommend this processor to anyone.

NOTE:This price is normal for Turkey :)

This is an update to my previous post. After investing in a compatible USB MIDI interface, I have begun to discover the wide array of control options available with this unit.

I finally got my GNX2 working again and was able to experiment with some clean tones. Simply put, I was amazed. They were crystal clear and resonated much better than on other devices I have auditioned and/or owned. Aside from some "deadness" produced by the 1/4" outs, I am throughly impressed by the sounds that can be produced by this unit. It can easily emulate most of my favorite tones form other amp modellers I have owned ... and may end up replacing the ones I have now.

Refer to my past post for details here. I am still hesitant to ever upgrade the firmware.

This rating is mainly the Digitech customer support division, not the GNX2 forum. The GNX2 forum continues to be a useful resource. As for the company's official customer support crew, the response time was decent, but one of them suggested that I use a different USB MIDI interface instead of actually considering how to get their crappy software to work with the one I used to own (?!). I definitely have to thank the GNX2 forum more than Digitech's customer service for getting my unit running again.

Now that my GNX2 is working properly, I am having a great time developing tones and practicing with the onboard rhythm trainer. Though there are obvious software instabilites, I have to retract my previous statement about possibly never wanting to invest in Digitech merchandise again. Aside from the obvious software issues and limited customer service from Digitech, the GNX2 holds its own against the competition in my book.

when i was buy a digitech gnx2, i had a zoom 505...zoom is small processor but is not easy to use beacuse nothing i understan easly its bad and i bought a digitech gnx2 people said that gnx2 easy to use yes it's correct :)))))))))))

When i bought gnx2 people said that why are you bought a gnx2 and i was unhappy because in turkey this processors are very expensive...
2 months later when i solve the have to use gnx2, i am Joe Anil SAtriani :)) Because i have sound and tones of forgotten part 2, surfing with the alien, always with me always with you :)) and again i speak the people they said that " gnx2 is realy really good"...
Y think this good example how is really good processor....
Y love digitech whammy pedals boss and others never made good whammy like digitech whammy.....

Yts digitech who said is not good but i think its good

Yn internet you can use other digitech users patch and its is really really good properties of this product....

i said everything and examples :))))))))))))))))))))))
Before gnx2 i am a guitarist after gnx2 i am Joe anil SAtriani ;
Nice to meet you :))))

I have owned a number of modelers over the years (ART ECC, V-AMP2, PODxt, J-Station, POD 2.0) and this was the second most challenging to decipher. The instructions were o.k., but did not seem to provide details regarding how to recalibrate after a factory reset or firmware upgrade. The reason my rating is so low has more to do with the fact that firmware updates under Windows XP with a Yamaha UX-16 MIDI interface seemed impossible with the unit I purchased and fried my unit ... during the first 12 hours I owned it. Also, I was unable to ever configure the PC editor to function properly with the aforementioned OS/MIDI interface combination.

I ran the unit into headphones and using s Schecter C-1 Elite guitar. The distortion section was incredibly versitile with the Warp function, post EQ, compression, cabinet tuning, and stompboxes available to tweak my tones. Because my unit died so soon, I was unable to explore the possibilities with clean tones. Some of the presets had very interesting effects combos, but the tones were kind of lacking. The one sound I was able to program before my GNX quit almost rivaled some of the other units I have enjoyed using.

The word that would best describe the quality of the GNX2 I purchased would be "dong". As I mentioend before, it died the first day after it arrived during a firmware upgrade and, even after reverting to a former version, unloading/reloading the updater software several times, and following all instructions on the GNX forum, I was unable to revive my unit. The process robbed me of several hours of precious guitar playing. I should have been more hesitant to purchase a GNX processor after experiencing similar firmware upgrade issues with a J-Station. Digitech really needs to demonstrate some improvement in the software department. Oh well ... at least it can still be returned to AMS.

They were not avialable when I needed them and the forum was somewhat helpful, but did not provide me with adequate assistance.

My unit may have been defective. However, this experience was enough of a pain to discourage me from ever investing in Digitech products again ... at least until their software improves.

This is a great box, and I found it easy to get good sounds from the presets from the start. I am not generally patient with editing patches, but the on screen thing makes it a breeze( just looks like a rack of gear) The mauanl is excellent and you WILL need it. Mine is running v1.3 firmwrae and have has no probs.

I use mainly a Fender Tele deluxe but also have a Gibson'69 SG, an Ibanez PM120 , Ibanez RG470. I can find great tones in here for all of them. I recently upgraded the rest of my gear from a Mesa Boogie Mark 4 to a Mesa 2:90 Power amp and Marshall stereo 1960A stock quad box. Like everone I am on my quest for tone, and I was considering looking at Koch, Soldano and Guytron heads/preamps etc, until I went back and plugged the GNX2 into the new setup..Huge!...I am selling the Boogie and may not even bother with another preamp. I like everything from Holdsworth to Vai and on to Methany with some old clever rock and funk thrown in..this box covers it all well enough for the serious part time muso and many of the pros..I find the stereo effects paticularly good and controllable, and enough distortions to keep a man happy...

Had it for a year, no probs ..would proabaly keep my old RAT distortion box in the bag just in case..can plug straight into the 2:90

No reason to call them , but the web site and user community sound patches (500+!) are easy to access and terrific

I have been playing for 30 years and I am fussy about my sound, especially as I get older and have a few dollars to spend..but I think the point has come where this technology is working! You do have to spend time tweaking, but I usually start with a preset that is close and go from there..but you can start from scratch easily. I know of one guy who ditched his tube screamer after using the modelled one here. If you want perfect output stage purist overdrive then go spend 5-10 grand and go for it..for the rest of the world there is the GNX2..anywho have a look at the gear pages of the big name players..almost all use a distortion box (or two, three, four)of some sort. Finally I love the 8 sec recorder section..many of the tunes I am trying to learn are fast and tricky and the ability to recors a passage and then wind down the speed to one-eighth while retaining correct pitch is a blast! The whammy and picth shifters work great too. If I lost it, I would get another one as I have many of my fave patches stored now on PC and it is built like a tank..Happy to answer queries..

Simply put......simple.

Amazing,
The wammy pedal is awesome!

Brand new....so hence, no problems

I'm pissed at the customer support.
They didn't address a single thing I asked about in my email to them.
I haven't been able to use the patch editor on a Mac.
The MIDI connection software for the Mac was written for mac that are 5 years old.
They did respond fast so I won't give them a zero.

I have to give it only a 9 instead of a 10 based on their shit support.
The sound is awesome but I am really looking forward to using the patch editor when the OS X version is released.

this unit is very easy to setup, everything makes sense in terms of editing and the footswitches and knobs and stuff if you justlook at the manual or think about it for a second. The problem is getting a good sound out of it. by all means I have only been playing guitar for 6 years, and haven't played through that many amps, but I definetely have an idea of how I want to sound and this unit has helped me get probably as close as I have come to getting that sound. I think I upgraded it once since I got it..it says 1.1 on start up, but I'm not sure of the differences. but anyway if you have some time and want more control of sounds in one unit this is good

I originally had a fender mexican strat with kinman pickup in the bridge but I recently got a epiphone joe pass, which is my main guitar right now. I had a zoom505 which I gave to someone because I got this which I got a good sound out of, I can get a good sound out of this, it just takes a lot longer. I play throught a fender princeton chorus (which is solid state) and I can get a sound that I am really satisfied with throught this pedal. just as a point of reference, probably the best sound I've heard my guitar get is when I played my guitar straight through a marshall jcm2000 I believe is the model,and it was just fucking awesome. This isn't exactly that, but what can you do...I used it in a band and the sound is really good its just a matter of tweaking. the things that seem to make or break this pedal are what kind of cabinet it's set to go to (2x12,direct, etc) and the cabinet tuning. for some reason after I change the cabinet tuning I get right where I want it to be. I play/like screamo/emo, but the band I was in was more punkish. I don't use too many effects especially in the band, but I get ideas sometimes and I can easily get the sound/effect I want (there's no ring modulation, but if you set the delay to under 100 ms you get a weird more ring modish sound). I have also used it to effect the output from loops I made with an RC-20 (i'm starting to do some idmish stuff by myself which is why I was interested in effects) and it's really cool for that. I think all the effects you can get with it are good, you just have so much control that sometimes it may be difficult to get a sound that certain effects are known to have. The pitch shifter is good (i'm a tom morello fan) and i'm pretty sure the whammy pedal doesn't have the ips feature which is awesome as well (I've used it in a "metal" song and it's really cool) since you can set it to whatever scale/key you are in. i'm not saying this to sound like an asshole, but I don't really care if I sound like my favorite artists, but I like braid and atthedrivein/ the mars volta and I can get sound in that mode. If you are worried with modeling I usually don't use it to play clean and have a switch for distortion. What I do is take a bassy sound and a trebly sound and "warp" them together and then work from there. It usually ends up better for me personally since it is hard to get a good distorted sound when you use the stompbox over a clean sound..that's just me though. I usually use the stompbox for a louder sound during solos. some people have complained about a "delay" which I don't really hear. I'm guessing this was in earlier versions. the only place I really notice any delay is with ips...and that is a little..as in trying really hard to notice. there is a little lage when switching presets I think..but if you are really concerned about this you could just get a switch box or use the volume knob or the pedal that this unit already has. (i'm giving it a nine for tweaking time basically). it may be just a wee bit noisy, but the gate will fix it (just..as usual with noise gates be careful you don't cut off too much of the sound fading out)...but if you have a good guitar (I have humbuckers not singe coils now, although the single coil from kinman was very quiet) then you don't really have to worry about noise especially if you are playing live.

the unit itself is really reliable you could drop it of your roof and it would probably still be fine since it's metal. The only problem is the adapter...the one it comes with is apparently the only one it works with...which is fucking annoying since if you try any other adapter it is just slightly too big. I had to spend forty bucks to get the same weird adapter model...which kind of sucked but that's just my fault for being disorganized with the adapter. I would suggest getting a pedal board assuming you are going to gig with it. (i'm giving an 8 based ont he adapter problem).

it hasn't stopped working. but just be careful if you update it or use the genedit thing it comes with, because I was stupid and I accidentally erased the first few settings I made when I tried to update the soft or firmware or whatever the hell it is.

once again i'm into harder emo stuff and am getting into doing some weird dubbish/idm kind of stuff. it's a better match for the latter since I wouldn't really use too many effects for the band I was in. I've been playing since almost six years ago. and I don't really own too much other stuff except for recording (an akai s2800, an ardvarkq10...blah blah..no one really cares). If it were stolen or lost I would probably buy it again...but I would be pissed of because I lost all my settings (I'm pretty sure you can save them with the genedit to your computer though). If I had more money I might just get a bunch of boss pedals for the fun of it...but they don't have the same control in terms of the pedal and midi options. I love the ability to use midi with it (I haven't yet, but with a behringer midi foot controller you could have to more foot pedals), I was planning on using say logic to control effects..delay I had in mind but if you switch the delay time with midi it just clicks, which is really annoying.. I'm planning on getting a line6 dl4 because of this. I wish you could turn the modeling off and just use it as an effects pedal, but I think the whole "morph" deal is there big selling point. I like the control (pedal/switches) and the metalness which is why I chose this over the desktop unit (which also cost more at the time to get the desktop and the control unit). I chose this one for the control with midi, the ips, the foot pedal, and the larger amount of presets and stompboxes (I think the gnx1 doesn't have these). I think I was going to get maybe a pod, a v-amp, or some korg pedal that was out at the time, i don't know if it is still out there, but I chose this one since it had more effects especially the whammy stuff. everyone says to get boss/roland pedals (well my dad and a teacher at my school, and they are both middleaged...but that just seems like a coincidence), but the boss pitch shifter pedal is nowhere near the control of the digitech whammy since there is no footpedal, and boss' stuff doesn't usually come with a foot pedal option (I like to be in control of things while i'm playing if it is possible). and it would cost a lot to get all the stuff that this pedal has in it. there's also the lfo to control certain features which is useful for example if you want to have phaser and vibrato at the same time (set the lfo to control volume) or set two of them to pitch and make weird little melodies like the "riffomattic" setting. I wish, but these are a little much that you could change the chain of the effects so you could say change the pitch of the audio coming out of the delay or I wish that you could set when you push down the pedal to turn on the wah you could switch it to something else...It helps me make music in the sense that once you tweak it how you like then you can easily change the effects or turn on a wah pedal without wondering what it would sound like if you did this or this...or having to waste computer processing power (if you are recording digitally) to an effect you don't have. I want to try it with a tube power amp/tube amp to see if it will sound better...but then I may just end up using it as an effects pedal and setting all the modeling crap to direct (not that it is crap, but you know what I mean)...I want to get a low wattage (less than 10) for recording and maybe one for gigging (20/30), so I can use tube distortion rather than a facsimile.

This unit is relatively easy to use, however I've been using Digitech products since the RP-1. The GenEdit software is what makes this unit shine. It is much easier to edit on the desktop. Every effect can be edited, tweaked and saved on the PC. Connecting to the PC is very simple, install the software, connect two MIDI cables and you're done. The fist thing I did was update the firmware to v1.3. My GNX2 did not come with the manual or the software as I bought it used off ebay, but I downloaded these from Digitech without a problem. The manual is very comprehensive, but I like tweaking the unit myself, so I didn't have to referr to the manual very often.

I run this unit through the S/PDIF optical out to the optical in on my Echo MIA. I use Samson Resolv 65a monitors. The sound quality is unbelievable! The Whammy effects alone are worth the price of admission, all the other effects are excellent. I love the stompbox modelling. Like I said there are over 600+ presets available for this unit on the Digitech website, getting the right sound takes a little time tweaking or searching, but I guess it depends on what you're looking for. I've tried many of the artist presets available, some are better than others. I wish Digitech would implement some type of review/voting scheme for their patches, so that users could vote on their favorite/best patches. I've had no noise problems with the unit with my setup. I can't really compare the modelling on the GNX2 to the real amps, but I'm very happy with the sound I get out of this unit. I use software modelling and effects as well, so the possibilites are endless.

I bought this unit off ebay. It is used, but in mint condition. Looks very solid and well built. I would never gig without some kind of backup unit.

Never had to use them, but I'll give Digitech a '10' based on the support of their website (i.e. patch downloads, message board, manuals, demos etc.), this is excellent.

I play mostly blues, rock, metal and some acoustic stuff. I have been playing for about 18 years. This unit is capable of handling any style you play, it is extremley versatile. If it was lost or stolen, I would probably buy it again or move up to the GNX3 or GNX4. I have tried the Boss GT-6, and although that is a good unit too, it is pricey, and what really sold me on the GNX2 is the ease of editing, Digitech website support, message board and patches available. The GNX2 is also a great value for the $$$. I also tried the Behringer V-Amp2, but that unit is had very limited effects but good modelling.

This pedal has a lot of capability; however, it really isn't as easy to use as some say. That depends on what type of sound you're after. If you are doing modern rock, or a style with super-heavy distortions.....fine...no real nuances that a pro guitarist would seek to derive out of it, it's not that big 'a deal. But if you are after some really sweet sounds and try gain some real edge on a nice tone, it can be absolutely frustrating and time consuming because the board is designed with EQ over EQ. When I would go to the cab settings, I would proceed with extreme caution because it could totally screw up all the tone I had. You have the EQ level, stompbox EQ, cab EQ, amp EQ....so I would try starting with different ones in hope to find a way to achieve the settings I could fine-tune without having to start over again. One guy I know says it's great, but I know his taste too, he's nowhere near the tone zone that I play in. There's high gain and low gain stomp boxes that you can adjust. What about stomp box selections that don't put you into some way-off tone when all you want to do is select gain boost that will push you over the top? In selecting the parameters that you need, you should be able to get selected levels of gain without having to change the tone you've created. My old Digitech RP-1 has the feature that once you tap across two patches, it will jump back to the previous patch if you step on the last used one a second time. I loved that feature because it's common to go back and forth between the two because of the way songs are arranged. The GNX2 does not do this, and I had to pay more attention to my pedal stomping which distracts me from my guitar playing. I used it for about 8 months and found it to be a rather difficult change. I never really got the sounds I needed from this board.

I use a Kramer guitar and Marshall valvestate. This board could get some hot sounds, but then it was noisier, so I never recorded with it. If I used the noise reduction, but I would lose to much natural sustain and lacked decent rolloff that I hoped would offset that. I originally bought this board because it had a more natural tone than most of the other ones I tried. Hey, if you can manage all the settings, and your sound isn't too hard to achieve, go for it.

It is dependable. I have found that to be the case with Digitech.

If you contact them by e-mail, they sometimes don't perceive the nature of some problems you're asking about so you have to make your description as clear as possible to get your point across or you'll get a stock answer.

In play rock, hard rock, pop, and variants of it. Been playing for 40 yrs. I like things to be relatively simple to use. The simpler, the better. That's why Line 6 came out with the Duoverb; they knew that acheiving different sounds without alot of tweaking was what gigging pros wanted. I agree with that philosophy to an extent. What I really disliked about the GNX2 features was the knobs that had memory settings. These were used on the green and red amps. I would have to fully rotate the knob until it locked in on the current setting and then would adjust it. The second issue was having to wait for that blasted little light to move to that knob before I could see what the setting was without having to tweak it, cause I didn't wanted have to reset the parameter in the process. These things add to the time it takes to create or edit. I sold my GNX2 because I stopped using it.

Not bad for a unit that does this much. The software editor is obviously a much easier interface to make big changes to a patch.

I mostly use Yamaha Pac1412 SSH with Duncan HotRails, Dim HS2 and Dim Evolution. Also play my Gibson ES350T, Yam CPX15W ac/el, Washburn RS10, Charvel 650XL. I play through some different amps; Ampeg V4/412, Ampeg VL503 112 combo, Laney AOR ProTube 30, and direct thru PA and home Dolbly 5.1 Surround system. As for the people who bitch about not getting good sounds with this unit they are either just trying to bad mouth Digitech or don't know how to use the unit with all of the different output options. The best feature of the GNX2 and 3 IMO is the output TARGET selection - direct, 112combo inp, 412 stack eff ret, etc. Makes it much easier to use this in a host of different amplifications/recording setups. For user who complained about the modelling sounds I have no idea what they are comparing it to - I've A/B everything out there against the GNX2/3 and I would not say that the GNX2/3 is best at everything I find most of the models I use to be as good if not better than everything else with the exception of the Line6 Vetta series and the H&K Zentera/Zenamp series. But since niether of those offers a lowers cost pedal option I am a complete devotee of the GNX2 pedal. I will say the the pedal is complex enough to handle a tremendous range of guitars and output amps, etc. But some seem to be easier to get great sounds with less tweaking. I would say to someone who has never experienced what a fully tweaked GNX2 can do please hook this thing up to a 5.1 system with a decent Rec/Amp and real speakers/subwoofer. The sound is absolutely astounding - and I have been playing for 38 years and owned too much gear to list - but playing through a GNX2 with a Boutique(G35) warped with Tweed (G70) and adding some studio rev + light rotary is something you can only explain if you can hear it and play through it while actively changing the warp mix. As for the dude who said the stompbox modelling was crap - I have no idea what he was comparing to - but I have an arsenal of great distortion boxes to choose from and the TS, SparkDrv, Rat, and MetalZone all work better and quieter with the GNX2 although the drive range they span while sounding great is a bit more limited IMO - but I prefer to build complex tones incorporating base distortion from my amp model and just adding a smaller solid state component + small boost with the stompbox and that works beautifully for me. I am not going to try and bullsh*t anyone to get that killer tone from any amp or guitar setup I needed to work with the unit for a while to figure out it's nuances - and there are quite a few, i.e. using compression output level is essential when I am working with very high gain sounds esp. if I am incorporating dist+hi gain amp model... being an engineer I don't find it that difficult to understand how the modeling chain is working and how to create models that "work" well given the GNX2 architecture. But since I am an engineer I am pretty picky when it comes to control and sound quality and this unit is as good as it gets IMO for a sub $300 (street) pedal.

Flawless - never any problems, only nit was on one gig I was at the end of the really (really) long ext cord w/ a hefty volt drop so the pedal would power up/dwn when there was a power surge on the PA. Next time I'll bring a little UPS for long ext cords ;-)

Dealt with them a couple of times to answer questions. Got through no problem and support people knew there stuff.

Been playing for 38 yrs (started at 7) and have owned and played through tons of great stuff as well as tons of crappy stuff ;-) .
This definitely goes in the category with some of the all-time great stuff! Compared it to the POD's, Boss GT3/5, Toneworks AX1500G as well as the Line6, H&K, Vox and Marshall AVT modelling amps. This is a serious pedal for those who are willing to invest a little time in getting a very high quality sound in lots of different settings. The strenghts of the pedal IMO are the excellent models, warping feature, layered distortion and performance mode (pedalboard) style switching. The addition of V-Switch, cab tuning and output target are also really neat and useful features! It's not hands down the best at every single model, effect or cab sound - BUT it does everything that I need very well and offers a compact and inexpensive enough unit that works equally well in the studio or on the stage and can be reconfigured for different usages better than any other modelling box or amp that I tried. I will always own one of these pedals!

It's really no more difficult to use than this web form. That being said, I have a Genesis 3 which shares many characteristics with this unit. Setting up presets is easy. The manual is boring, but reasonably complete. It would be nice to find a manual that concentrated on the larger objectives in addition to "this button does this" kind of info.
I scrapped most of the factory presets - not my thing. Some were very nice, though, and I use them occaisionally. I bought it because I play a very wide variety of music and I need something versatile without lugging 1200lbs of equipment everywhere I go.

I'm using this with a Strat, a Tele Deluxe, and a Martin D28. I am running it mono. The left feed goes to the PA, the right to a small amp on stage for my monitor (eq'd to approximate the sound from the PA). I have found it to be quiet, depending on the power condition and proximity to other interference (PC monitor). I like the sounds alot. As I mentioned before, the presets were a little much, but after spending ome time thinking/planning I have set up banks of presets that let me group families of sounds. The rectifier sound is a bit annoying, but mixed in with a more sane amp im, it sounds nice and adds a little singing sustain.
I actually like the TS9 sim. I don't think it sounds just like a TS9, but I like the way it sounds anyway. That, in reality, sums up my philosophy with this type of gear. I'm not trying to perfectly imitate a sound obtained with my tube gear. I'm trying to find good sounds, and I have found plenty.
For an acoustic, well, not exactly my favorite - but the sound guy actually appreciates only having one signal from me to worry about.

I really don't have the money to burn to keep a backup, so, yes, I depend on it. So far, so good - but I don't spill stuff on it and I am generally pretty careful with my gear. I wish the power supply was internal, but I can get over that.

I have never had to deal with them, but their web site is weak.

As mentioned, I have to handle a wide variety of styles and sounds, often within a single gig. The range is from folksy acoustic (old Cockburn, etc) to country to pop to rock to near-metal. I am impressed with the range of this unit. I have been playing for many years (20+), some professional (though not currently), and I think for the money and size that I am happy with my decision to buy it. I've had it long enough for the honeymoon to wear off, but I have not had to ask for a divorce.
I DO wish that the outputs could be separately assigned - that is, left is set for direct and right is set for 1x12 combo. Then I would not have to torture my poor little stage amp to get full range out of it. The tuner drives me nuts, too. I try not to use it.

It's easy to use. Menu is understandable. Patches are good and easy-to-make. Manual is quite understandable too. I got firmware version 1.3 right now.

Good sound. I am using an ESP H-100 guitar now, and it's good with it. But the bad thing is, when I make effects at my house and I go to my band amp, then it sounds like egg frying :) The I must switch some things there and it's OK.

I can depend on it of course. I AM using it on a gigs without backup.

boo

I play Heavy Metal and etc. I have been playing years. If it were stolen or lost... I think I would try something else for exchange. If someone wants to change patches, I'd love to! Mail me if there is something you want to talk about!

It's a pretty simple little machine. If you read the manual (which is very well explained, I might add), then you can have your own sound in no time. Of course, it does take a little time, so you have to be patient, but it will definately pay off after a couple of days of just sitting down and playing around with it.

My basic amp setup includes a Peavey Transtube Supreme head and a Peavey 4x12 cab (Sheffield speakers). My 4 main guitars are a customized Ibanez GRX-40z w/ an Invader pickup, an Ibanez RG-570, an Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow body, and an Epiphone Explorer. The GNX-2 is probably the most versitile effects/modeling processor that I have ever used. I can tell the difference between each guitar, unlike most processors that mask the true tone and sound of the instument. The good thing about it is that the noise gate is very tight, so when you stop playing, there is no hum or buzz, even if you stay on a distorted setting. I can plug in my GRX and get a very modern, nu-metal-like sound, or plug in my Epiphone and get a sound that is comparable to Nuno Bettancour or Joe Satriani. All of the effects come through very strong, and you can adjust the depth and volume of each one seperately within seconds. I'm a freak for chorus, flange, and phasers; all of which are exceptional on this processor. The presets cover all genre's from rock to jazz, and of course, you can customize your own sounds and save them and delete them at your own will. When I first got it, I found that some of the presets and amplifier models sounded a little muffled on my amp, but after setting the "input" settings to match with my amplifier, it fixed the problem. That makes this machine perfect for anyone who likes to record direct. The assignable "V-switch" expression pedal has endless possiblities including Wah, Volume, Amp-Switching, Warping, Reverb Volume, and some of which I am still not familiar with. The built in "Talk box" is also great for those of you looking for that Joe Walsh or Peter Frampton sound. The footswitches are layed out perfectly and have green/red indicator lights which are perfect on dark stages. The stereo and MIDI output capability also allow alot of versatility if you use more than one amplifier or record via your computer. Basically, you can do anything your heart desires with this thing and still sound great.

I have depended on the GNX-2 for 2 years now and it has not failed me nor gave me any problems. It is durable enough to withstand the tortures of the road, which I love because I play shows all the time. In fact, I have become so dependent on it, I don't even practice without it. The only problem that I have found is that the external power source is a little inconvieniant on a crowded stage, since the transformer sits in the middle. It also kinks out after a while (I've fixed mine with a little duct tape). In cases like this, you can purchase them off of the Digitech website, but they are fairly expensive ($50 for the GNX-2 power supply, if I'm not mistaken). Still, I would gladly buy one for another 2 years of great dependability.

I haven't dealt with the customer support at Digitech, nor had it updated. Haven't ever needed to.

If you are one of those musician's who are constantly looking for new sounds, this is your type of machine. All you need is a little time to mess with the settings and you can get any sound imaginable. I can say that if my GNX-2 were stolen or lost, I would HAVE to buy another one, bar none. It helps me come up with new ideas for my compositions and saves me time and money in the studio, because all of the effects that I need are right there, so they don't have to be added during mixing. ALL of my sound comes from this baby...it is my amplifier as far as I'm concerned. The only reason I use the Peavey Transtube is to drive my cab! Its a low-cost way of sounding great. I'm a Mesa/Boogie fan who's on a budget most of the time, and when I got this, it was like getting that rectifier sound without spending $1500. I would definately recommend this machine to anyone who wants to customize their sound, regardless of what type of music they play. If you would like to hear what the GNX-2 has done for my sound, go to www.2mwband.com and listen to some of the MP3's. Its all done by this baby. Also, I have some instrumental material available that I have composed using only the GNX-2. I highly recommend.

Not bad, familiarity with the RP2000 or other Digitech stuff helps. I had NO trouble getting the most fascinating variations of distortions (my middle name, I'm a distortion connoiseur of 27 yrs. of playing) ever. EVER. AND: you CAN save a warped amp to each and every patch, not just the 9 you can save in the "user" new amp memory. Awesome.

I use Ibanez, Fender, but mostly use a 1979 Westbury Standard (Univox) with DiMarzio SD in the bridge and PAF hum in the saddle. This unit is QUIET, probably the quietest of all my multieffects, including GT3, RP2000, AX1500G, etc.: it's the noise suppressor, called SILENCER. Now, the distortions: AWESOME. You play with them to your little demon's content and cream in your jeans. I just love the variations possible. It has the BEST fuzz I've ever heard, rich, textured and sound just as good by note or chord!! Instant retro Sabbathy sounds, tweaked into practically a mondo bass guitar sound, especially with a little eq'ing, but the cabinets (tunable!) truly layer your content like icing on your cake. The reverbs are the weakest I've heard also, however, not like the juicy ones on my GT3 or AX1500G. The wahs are quite decent, all three are nice, even better than on the RP2000. I always play direct into a digital recorder (Akai DPS16) or TASCAM 4 track.

I don't know, I just never thought I'd get to truly manipulate distortion textures like this, and as you can tell I'm ecstatic. Of course the expression pedal is fully programmable, but I had some trouble getting my loop thing right, it was better on the RP2000, where I could freeze it and play over it by controlling with the control footswitch. Then you also have the stompbox OD's, which are nice alone, but with the amps give you ridiculously seething distortions and endless textures ad infinitum..

NA

NA

I play only original electronic/experimental stuff, and also use synths. I am glad I got this, the amps rule. Inspiring.

The pedals are very small. The knobs are easy to use.

Being aware that this is "modeling" it's OK. But wah and distortion could be better.

Doesn't look reliable at all. Cheap plastic pedals etc. On the software side, very unstable operating system. Unexpected reboots frequently. How can I rely on a processor which reboots unexpectedly like a Win 95? What if it's on stage in the middle of a song?

I was recommended to upgrade firmware (OS) for the reboot problems.

This was my first modeling multi-efffect processor. I'm somewhat disappointed with the gnx2, both in terms of sound and reliability. I think it doesn't deserve more than a 4 (failed).

I got the 1.0 version and there are several bugs on it : getting the tuner is quite hard (gotta press 2 footswitchs at the same time), espetially in the bank mode, because if you're pressing one of them a wink too early u will go to the bypass mode...

The display window sux. Could have put a LCD screen for that price.

Funny sounds and lot of possiblities, but gotta spend some time on it. Sometimes a bit hard to get the OD sound u want.

The wah-wah foot control is bugged, u can control the toe-down pressure on the volume pedal to get the wah but the pressure needed is varying through weeks, and i once get the wah instead of a volume boost during a gig, pretty confusing...

My 'wheel-like' control has been messing up for 1 year.

Had to change the power unit once on my former Digitech-RP6 and the dealer gave it to me for free 2 years after.

I think i'd buy something else if it were stolen. Maybe a tube amp and simply use the OD channel + effects.

Ease of use? I would say that it depends on how long you've been working with it. This is a sophisticated board in that it provides so many variables in EQ and sound alterations. You MUST read the manual and work with it for awhile to really understand how different controls affect the overall sound. If you try to learn this thing in one day, you'll get a headache trying to make it work right. Also, make sure you know how to exit certain functions without changes and know what actually saves or mantains a specific setting or you'll screw up the settings you have already (and yes,..get a headache....). I've had this processor for about a week or more and I'm still discovering its capability. Remember, with any new processor, it takes about a month or so to really get what you want out of it due to the normal learning curve.

This unit comes with an external power supply(which I don't prefer) unlike my self contained RP-1. Don't know why they didn't do the same thing, unless they were saving space in the unit. I use a Kramer American-made Lacer guitar with coil tap function which in single coil can be slightly noisier at ultra high gain settings (keep in mind "high settings", not rectifier or super distorion selections on the menu), but not quite as bad as it was with my old RP-1. I use this with a 100W Marshall valvestate or a Peavey 130W stereo combo. I do not seek to emulate the exact sound of other guitarists, but a reasonably close tone to the cover songs that my band plays. We play a wide selection of material, so I can't have the sound of every single song itemized verbatim on my pedal. This board has some good emulations, but remember that they are only going to be as good as you are able to operate this board. Most of the effects have some good range and you can smother your sound in digital delay, for one. The chorus is definitely better than what I had on the RP-1, (more like the Boss chorus). This board use rotary dials for EQ and settings: personally, I prefer digital selection by button instead because on rotaries you have to turn the dial to find the point where the display will engage the change and it wastes precious time when you are making corrections or attempting to build smething. I would prefer the kind of display used on the RP-1 because you can see multiple settings on one screen and you get a "picture" or "image" in you mind of what series of settings works for you or a specific tailored edge.
The only item in the effects that I would prefer a different readout is compression. Threshhold and ratio are not what I'm used to using, so I find it kind of ambiguous in relation to it's usable effect.
and it wastes your time when you are in the middle

I've had the RP-1 for ten years and it has stood up to the bumps and jolts. I assume that our new and improved matal chassis Digitechs would be the same. I've never had a backup unit; however, if I played full time, I would probably have one due to that being my livelihood. The nice thing about this board is you can store it's settings on your PC(it comes with a PC software disc). I have lost ny settings before on my old RP-1 trying to clear some glitches out, and I don't like having to re-program from scratch.

Digitech has available customer support which I have spoke to via e-mail. If you use their support, just make sure they know up front what you do and do not want to happen to your board/software before you follow the prescribed resolution. (That's how I lost all my programming on my RP-1)

I play rock, the older style, thank you. I seek to get a basically natural sound, but often with with your standard effects. I am not a purist, per se, but I want a clean, tight sound whether distorted or otherwise. Sometimes, that is difficult on a modeling board period. I hve discovered in a week of working with this unit that I CAN get a pristine natural guitar sound out of it. Keep in mind I'm still in the stages of discovery. One comparison I can make is aainst the Boss ME-88. That Boss unit lacked the quality of the GNX series boards, and yes it is an older unit, but I couldn't manage it very well at all- could not get any natural sound from it so I returned it to Musician's Friend and they gave me full credit for it. I tried out the Boss GT-6 and would have considered getting it, but I don't like their brand of footswitches that require more force to activate. When I tried out the units at Guitar Center I was looking for clean, clear, guitar sounds and Digitech won because it sounded more full and natural. The one thing that retricts me is that I don't have a whole plate of ten pedal switches like I did on the RP-1; I will have to bank or toggle to get to another 4 presets at a time. In the end, I am pleased to find another Digitech (my personally preferred brand) that will give me what I need the next few years to deliver a varied array of sounds cause I don't want to have a whole arsenal of stomp boxes spread across the stage- I don't like having to hook all that spaghetti up every time I play (even though they sound good).

This pedal is really easy to use, especially for the factory presets. All you do is turn it on and press the pedals. When you want to create you own presets it can get a bit confusing, presets that are already there that you want to change an effect with only require you to select the effect you want to change, and turn the knobs. It saves it automatically, i had a bit of confusion with this because i thought you were supposed 2 press the store button everytime and it was really annoying. Also, some of the paramaters that you can edit dont really seem to do anything, I dont know too much about effects, so i have no clue what things like LFO are supposed to be.

My setup is pretty basic, I'm a poor teenager, my dad buys my stuff, so I have a Yamaha Pacifica running to the GNX2 then to an Ibanez Tone Blaster 15R. I read a few complaints about the noise gate, but i dont really see what the problem is. It works very well, except when you want the sound where you just let the noise fade out on its own, the noise gate will cut it off a bit. Most of the effects sound great, not all because some I've never used any other effects pedal for so I cant compare it to anything. I love the stompbox modeling, a few of them are kinda weak for a distortion, but i guess their for different styles of playing. Chorus, flanger, phaser, and all those rock. Wah's great. Love the divebomb preset. Theres a riff-o-maticish thing, I sounds kinda cool, but i think its useless. Amp modeling sounds great, althought I cant tell you if it sounds like the real amp itself. Sometimes if you mix a certain effect with a certain amp it comes out terrible, never mix grunge with a clean that's high on the treble side, it sounds really sharp. I play mostly heavy metal, punk, and alternative. This pedal can get me to sound like almost everyone of my favorite artists, so far I've been able to get Metallica, Creed, and Papa Roach, but I'm sure that if I wanted a different set of effects to play each band with it wouldn't be hard. I love this pedal, its great and all, but still there's one thing that bothers me, the main 'flagship' feature of the GNX models is the amp and cabinet warping. I cant speak for everyone, but for me, ITS USELESS!

I havent had it for too long, but it has a steel case so it must last long. >=) The buttons are plastic, they would've been better metal, but i guess metal isnt as flexible, but they dont really need it flexible for butons, but either way I think it would last a long time if you dont drop it, put it in water, drop anything on it, kick it, use it as a literal stomp box, throw it at a wall (I read about some guy who got really pissed off and threw his RP-3 at a wall :P), hit it with a hammer, stab it with a knife, open it and lick the circuits, bang your head on it, or let your dog piss on it. So just take care of it and it wont break. Oh and ya, the pedals a bit squeaky, but its probly just mine and can probly be fixed with a bit of oil. I would gig it without a backup, it seems very sturdy and I dont think it will fail me anytime soon. I've also read complaints about the power supply, its not that bad, but the design is that the power supply is a bit loose so it could probly come out very easily. Other than that it seems perfectly reliable. If your really paranoid then yes, go for a backup power supply, but the pedal itself is a tank. Ya... so thats why I would gig it without a backup, that and the fact that I dont have a backup. :P

Never dealt with them, but I'm sure they can't possibly be as bad as marketing.

I've been playing for almost a year and a half, and I'm not half bad, this pedal is perfect for everything I play. If it were lost or stolen then I'd definately want to buy a new one, if I had the money. I love the expression pedal, it has a good range, can be programmed to do 3 different things, plus wah so 4, and it has a V-Switch to toggle wah on and off. I compared this pedal to a few other ones, I didnt like any of the zoom models, they look like crap, they're plastic, and I heard they sound like crap. Dod, same story as the zoom. Boss Gt-6 was 80 bucks more. I also compared it to the GNX 1 and 3, 1 didnt have stompbox modeling and 3 was toooo much and I dont need a recording unit.

While sonically superior to the RP2000, I prefer the user interface on the RP to the GNX2...I expecially miss the easy access to a "master volume" for each patch.

My primary setup is a chambered Warmoth VW, basswood body/maple top and maple neck, w/ Rio Grande single-coil (Stelly/Muy Grande)pickups straight into the GNX2. Output is either into headphones (I'm an apartment dweller)or a Tech 21 Power Engine (so I can recreate the sound from the headphones in a live setting). I also have 3 Hamer USA Daytona Strats (in E,Eb, & D tuning), a 83 Hamer Special, and an original 54 Les Paul Goldtop (set up for slide).

Right now, I'm using the Warmoth and getting a convincing David Grissom "Joe Ely-Live at Liberty Lunch" tone from this pedal. I'm also getting very usable Crybaby/ProCo Rat/Plexi tone that's very reminiscent of Ian Moore's Live from Austin. Do I sound exactly like David or Ian...nope I pretty much sound just like me...and that's good because that's why I chose to play guitar all those years ago. Wait just a damn minute! Who am I kidding...I started playing guitar for the same reason that you did...to meet girls.

I'm 45 years old w/ over 30 years playing experience...I was raised in the analog world of Plexis/Twins/Super Reverbs...6L6s, EL34s, EL84s, etc...I know tube amps & I love 'em. So to younger players that may have bought into the hype as well as some of us older guys that now have a little disposable income and think we can buy our way into tone-heaven...I've heard guys sounding like Gods playing a Squire Strat through a modeling pedal, direct to the house PA...and I've heard guys sound like shit playing through the most choice vintage/boutique gear that money can buy. Like Bugs Henderson says (Four Tens Strike Again), it's the "man behind the pick". If you believe in your heart that you have to have a beat-to-hell strat running into a a 35-40 year old tweed/blackface/plexi/pick-one to get "tone", then you probably will not be satisfied with this pedal or any other effect made in this century. If, on the other hand, you believe that YOU are the tone and that it comes from your head, your heart, and your hands, then I can't believe that you can't find something here that makes you happy. Remember Tommy...you're the tone...be the tone Tommy...Be the tone!

American made probably by honest, God-fearing Mormons up in Utah. For something with more silicon than Pamela Anderson, this thing appears to be very well made. I had it's predecessor, RP2000 for 2 years playing live-houses in Tokyo using Japanese 100v/50hz power (US is 110v/60hz) and it never missed a beat...the American-made stompbox that is. Unfortunately the "cheap-assed Chinese-made power supply" that comes with it is a different story...I'm on my second one right now; the first one went tits-up in a matter of weeks. I also had trouble with the "cheap-assed Chinese-made power supply" that came with the RP2000...this IMHO has nothing to do with the 100v power supply in Japan since both of these tanked while running on US power. My advice is not to gig w/o a backup, regardless of your rig. If you can't afford a complete backup for the GNX2, my advice is to spend about $35 for an extra "cheap-assed Chinese-made power supply"; maybe two "cheap-assed Chinese-made power supplies"...just to be safe ;o)

The honest, God-fearing Mormons up in Utah answered the phone promptly and listened patiently while I described my problems with their "cheap-assed Chinese-made power supply". They gave me a return authorization number, which I didn't use since I now live in Bitburg Germany and didn't want to wait weeks to receive my same pedal with a new "cheap-assed Chinese-made power supply". Instead, I drove up to my local German Digitech dealer, dished out 35 Euro from my personal strip-club stash, and bought a brand new "cheap-assed Chinese-made power supply" that has worked OK for the last 6 months. I even got the Euro-version 230v "cheap-assed Chinese-made power supply" so I don't have to lug a transformer around with me.

I play geezer rock, roots, & blues. I also like some of the newer de-tuned stuff, as long as it appears to me that the players at least made an attempt to learn how to play.

"Cheap-assed Chinese-made power supplies" aside, this is a good pedal for a variety of styles from Bo Diddley to Korn. When I'm hearing great tone in my head and somehow accurately transfer it into my hands, I get great tone out of this box. If it were stolen or lost, I'd definitely consider buying another one. I'd also consider many other products out there...I'd probably also give the Line 6 Vetta or Duoverb a test drive.

Pretty straight forward after the obligatory manual swotting session

Now, I actaully bought this as a dealer was offering it dirt cheap as an introductory offer and I just wanted some digitech pitch shifting device.
Amp modelling - Mainly unusable, I have found that using an amp works better or the Marshall MG10 with its built in emulator works far better.
Fuzz - Terrible

This is a little unfair as the other day I plugged in my Tokai Tele with EMG pick ups and the unit lost its nasty digital nasal mid sound and sounded fair respectable like. Could there be an impedance problem with these units?
FX - Does the job nicely

Delay and Pitch shifting - Top notch and very usable, worth the #200 and odd on its own

Runs hot as they all do with no heat sinks. So it will die at some point

An expensive toy, has it's uses but you should spend your hard earned on a nice amp. Plenty of people buy good guitar kit, get bored and dump it cheap, you just have to look. If you are going to buy new kit from guitar shops then that's your lookout. You subsidise their rent and naff t-shirts. I'd rather spend cash on the device itself.
Play alot of loud stuff [Ramones/Godflesh/Fripp] Feedback drenched. The piutch shifters are grand. Don't buy it if you want to be a HM wanna-be. It wont make that over priced Laney/ Crate/ etc stop sounding like a turd. Just as e-mail chain letter will not make you rich.

I gave this a lower score because, honestly, it isn't easy to use. This has (for me at least) has a large learning curve, and the manual is a MUST. Having said that, I still love it. Just because it's difficult doesn't make it bad. And, you can get the GenEdit software to do it all with your computer. That makes it 20 times easier. One thing I cannot figure out is how to use the SPDIF output. Sure, all you do is plug in the cable, you say. But how do you lower the output volume? If you plan on using digital to record, look into that first. It clips everything on my recordings.

I play a Dean Evolution Doubleneck through the GNX2 into Cakewalk Sonar, or into a Peavey Bandit. Sounds wonderful. The distortions are great, the cleans are great, even the acoustic simulation is alright (but use it direct, not with cab simulation).

The noise gate SUCKS. I hope this is only on mine, but if you turn it on, even if everything is set to 0, it still kills your sustain. I hate it. The compressor is just iffy, but it's better than my $75 Boss CS-3. Modulation effects are great, I love having a triggered flanger.

The "warp" thing is alright. So far, none of my "warped amps" have sounded better than what i could come up with just using the amps they have. But I'll keep tryin.

I don't think multi effects pedals are good to use live myself, but if you don't mind the tapdancing, then this is great. Nothin will happen to it, that's pretty much guaranteed. The whole thing is made of metal. You can set it to stompbox mode, where it works like having distortion, delay, modulation, and amp channel pedals right in front of you. And i guess a wah or whammy, and a talkbox......

Digitech has forums set up on their webpage, where employees of Digitech will answer your questions for free. Thats great. Go digitech.

I play metal, hair, classical, rock, southern...blahblahblah....this thing does it all and more. I would recommend this over all the other multieffects, so unless you have something against digital, then go get one.

This is relativly easy to use. I have experience with a few different multi-FX pedals from a few different manufacturers, and this is probably the hardest one I've used. It's only hard because it has about three times more parameters than most multi-fx. Which is a good thing. The manual is OK I haven't used it too much. I like to turn knobs and push buttons and see what happens. It is more fun that way. The PC editor is absolutley awesome it sucks that you have to have a midi connection on your pc because most people don't, but I do so I can't complain. The PC editor is as easy to use as having twenty effects pedals would be. Without the PC editor this category would be a six.

I recently graduated from college and got a decent Job. So I've got a little money and I've been trying to put together a setup that would give me the tone I've always dreamed of. Consequently I have used a variety of guitars with this. A PRS Mccarty Soapbar, Gibson Les Paul Double Cut, and two Strats. That thirty day return policy at guitar center rocks. I have bought and returned every one of those guitars in the past six months. I know that sounds insane, but each of those guitars was in the 1200 - 2000 price range and weren't exactly what I was looking for. For that much money you had better get what you want. I have also used two different Ovation acoustic electrics. I use this direct to a mixer for recording and thru my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for stage.

Now down to the Real stuff. I play mostly blues with some rock and jazz mixed in. I bought this to get a few good reverbs and delays and a wah pedal. This was cheaper than buying a good reverb unit, a cry baby ,and a nice delay unit plus I got all the other stuff as extra stuff to play with when I get bored. This unit gave me what I wanted.

Reverbs can be lush and warm or very digital cold and sharp depending on settings.

The delays are widely varied and do their jobs well.

The wah is decent. Its hard to get that voodoo child wah sound but it's almost there.

I have good amp so I don't use the amp or cabinet sims to often but the acoustic sim is awful. I do like the VOX sim it is decent.

I don't use the modulation effects to often either but they all seem more than adequate.

Other than that I can tell you that you need to keep this thing away from your computer or neon signs and stuff of that nature or it can get noisey. Sounds like common sense, but you never know.

It hasn't broken yet and I don't expect it to. It is very well built. I will say that I have a toneworks(Korg) ax1000g that I haven't used in over a year because it broke twice in six months and cost me fifty bucks to fix each time and is broken again which is why I bought this. Keep in mind that I only used the ax1000g in my studio it never left my house. Don't buy Korg.

never dealt with them. The guys at the guitar center I bought it at are complete jerks, but I love their return policy.

As I said above I play blues/jazz/rock. It does the job I want it to do. I have been playing about 10 years and have owned quite a bit of gear recently (see above), but I have settled recently on a custom shop strat and my trusty hot rod deluxe. If this were lost or stolen I would not buy it again, but that is just because I would want to try something new. I compared it to other stuff at guitar center and went with digitech because I have used their products in the past and always been satisfied. I wish I could rack mount it because I use it in the studio about 95% percent of the time and it would be easier to edit that way than on the floor, but I guess that is what the pc editor is for. This definintley not a must have, but it is decent I would recommend looking for older digitech products like the rp2120 as they sound better and can be bought cheaper on places like ebay.

I have owned a Digitech RP-2000 for a few years and the GNX-2 is very similar so I really can't comment. If you read the manual (it's very well written and easy to understand) and have a few brain cells left you should be able to start really getting around the interface in about 20-30 minutes TOPS. (But do yourself a favor and read the damn thing!)

I play a Fender Fat Strat(pickup modification), Ibanez RG-550(pickup mod) and a few Peavey Wolfgangs(no mods). I own quite a bit of guitar equipment including some very sought after vintage equipment and of course the new stuff too. I have been recording quite a bit lately and my choice of setup depends on the situation so I am not really going to go into the setup thing here other than I have played the GNX through my Boogie II, Johnson Millenium 150 and my Peavey 5150 2X12 combo. Oh yea, I have also recorded it direct into a Roland VS-1824...WOW!

Before I go any further PLEASE NOTE:
I have been around the block sound wise about 8 times and have been playing for 20+ years in all styles from jazz to country to classical to blues to metal to neo-classical to pop to alternative to etc. etc. etc.
Forget the nostalgic and brand name hype you read in many of these reviews. We all know the type, they buy the vintage equipment and because they can't afford Steve Ray Vaughn's or Jim Hendrix's original guitar they buy the replicas that are 'guaranteed' to look like a truck ran over them straight out of the box...what retards. The other scenario is the "I have a (fill in the blank) and this new thing sounds like crap". Then they have the ignorance to say that after goofing with it for ONLY 5-15 minutes they took it back? If they took there heads out of there asses and the corn cobs out of there ears and ditched the "Equipment Prejudice" long enough to give the GNX-2 a fair shot they COULD NOT HAVE POSSIBLY given the GNX such low scores in sound quality!!! It sounds EXCELLENT and is VERY versatile regardless of your style of playing. I am very, VERY picky about guitar sounds and especially MINE!(it's how I make a living). Even the big time pros who have unlimited cash and the best techs in the biz could work out a sound they would be happy playing with. The FAT HUGE and AMAZING sounds you hear on the records is in most cases 50% mixdown and production AFTER the recording has taken place, so to even come as close as 51% is a major accomplishment and the GNX-2 does much better than that!! The only reason I would sell or return mine is to get the GNX-3 for the ease of getting multitracked ideas down quickly. If you can't get an excellent sound in any style out of this unit you need to:
1)Stop smoking blunts laced with elephant tranquilizes.
2)Go see a good ear nose and throat specialist and have them give you a hearing test.
3)Perhaps a less complicated instrument, like the tambourine might be more your style.
4)Continue your already accomplished mastery of the bone flute.

Hold your computer up a mirror or dust off your old Captain Crunch Decoder Ring for my last message.

!!!detnioppasid eb ton lliw uoy eno teG
Have a nice day :)

So far so good.

Not yet.

Just get one already.

alright, being realistic...its easy..but confusing at the same time...
Its simple to get the basic sound you want, but once you start tweaking, it gets confusing...

I dont know what drugs some people are on, because I am getting the sound I want from this magnificent peice of work every time I use it..
Are you using a guitar with no pickups?
Do you know how to play the guitar???
I think this is quality manufacturing, from people who know guitars.

Hah! Dont even need to comment! sturdy and very reliable..

Never had to deal with them, but from what I hear they do fantastic in guitars, they lack in CS...

I play a mix of rock, acoustic rockish, funk... Its a great match.
I have played 3 years, own an Aria Fullerton, Ovation A/E and an Ibanez elec. I used to have the Digitech RP200, but this is 1000 steps beyond it.
If it were stolen, I'd probably buy it again...this or a Korg.
I love its sound, I love its style. I hate that its hard to customize quickly. My favorite feature is probably the fact I get too much joy everytime I am within 50 feet of it..
I compared it with a number of other products before I bought it, and this one came down to the best for the price.
I wish I had the manual.
It has definetly helped me make and create music, as well as my style.
If you are going for a box, I recommend this one...
If you are looking for something else, get the other products. Don't bitch about something YOU paid for if you dont know how to use it or what you want from it.

This unit is reasonably easy to program, although I found the dual amp settings confusing to change on the fly. It's a little disorienting to deal with 3 sets of tone controls (global, and 2 amps). Manual is good.

I have been using a POD since 2000 and wanted some different effects and an integrated wah. I was unable to get even 3 good sounding presets after spending 2 weeks of programming. Unlike POD, DG-Stomp and even the Korg PX-4, this thing does not sound like an amp. It is possible to get completely unnatural sounds by just messing with an eq or effect. I get the impression of a digital tool that was not centered around traditional amp sounds. You can plug up a POD or DG-Stomp and quickly get amp-like sounds by just playing with gain and tone controls. The GNX-2 has so many tweaks and combinations that I found myself wasting time just trying to get a baseline sound that was familiar. In addition, the clean sounds have a hard, harsh edge to them. I should have forseen all this on a product from a company who in the past specialized in mostly heavy distortion sounds to the detriment of clean sounds, but I succumbed to the reviews I read.

The unit seems pretty well built. Some of my students have owned older RP pedal units where the pedals actually broke off or quit working after a few months, so I don't trust the pedal controllers longevity. The high temperature was noted, but didn't alarm me as I had an ART rack unit that was very hot and never had a problem for years.

When I called for pre-sales info, Digitech was friendly and helpful. No need for support. I sold the unit at a loss to get rid of it.

I mostly use a Strat built from parts with vintage single coils and a Danelectro 12 string. I've been playing since the mid-60's and play most styles other than metal and country. I use a POD live out of necessity (stage volume) and would prefer an amp and pedals, but that's the breaks. I bought a GNX-1, returned and got the GNX-2 to hear the pedal models, which suck. I hated the GNX-2 so much I sold it at a $100 loss and purchased a DG-Stomp. Unfortunately it didn't quite cut it for me either. I am back to my POD and auditioning PODXT and Valvetronix. I will probably not give Digitech products another chance based on my experiences with the GNX series, although I have recommended them to my students and friends based on their needs and ears.