DigiTech GNX3

There are some things you will have to look up,they will be well explained in the manual.If your just starting to get into decent gear,not a bad choice.

I use a marshall 2000 60watt head,1960A cab,aria proII,shector diamond series c1e/a semi hollowbody.Very little noise from the unit.I only use 2 presets and 2 that I created myself,by creating user patches from presets with some changes in the color.I created a detune patch that is not bad sounding.Can't get any sound that I would consider is from another band.I'm now looking at tc g-force,I will keep this for practice at home, because one of the really nice things about this unit is that you can hook it up to a cd player,plug head phones into it and your guitar,oh and a mic if you prefer to sing,and go undisturbed by any noises.Oh I almost forgot the 8track recorder,excellent addition, I wish every unit had one of these. Drum machine plain sucks.

Had to send it back to the factory for a new preset scroll button,thats when they updated it to ver1.5, this was just before the warranty went out. Now i'm having another problem with the scroll button intermitently.I've owned it a year 8 mo. I have played out with it without any problems.

They made all repairs and had it back in 2 weeks.The staff is always there to help,even when I wasn't sure about how to get the volume pdl patched back into my edited preset.

Classic rock, lot of original music which makes it easy to use some presets,as for the copy music,it's a little difficult finding a preset to match,my drummer wants me to kick the thing out the window and run direct,but I have to have some chorus,delay etc.

I've owned several effects units, new and old. This one was actually intuitively designed and I could figure out most of the features without the manual. I was getting decent sounds out of it within an hour of delivery. That says alot. Editing is easier than my Zoom GFX-8 and the manual is fairly straight forward but no glossary or index.

Sounds great, for the most part. The presets are varied and marginaly useful. The "old EVH" preset sounds nothing like Old EVH though. The effects are top notch, but I am coming to expect this from every manufacturers products.It is certainly quiet, and the distortions seem good. I plug it into a new Marshall MG100HDFX with the matched 412 cabs. I play a 2000 Texas Special american Stratocaster with a red lace at the bridge (yum).

Seems great so far. This includes the auxilliary floor switch for controlling the built in 8 track recorder. Solid unit with strong pedals and mostly metal construction. I don't abuse my stuff though.

Crappy web-site but digitech has a reputation for taking care of it's customers, I hope to never need more than firmware revisions.

I bought this thing on Ebay with the additional foot controller like new. I won it at a steal so it's worth every penney. I love the 8 track recorder, the drum machine/metronome and it sounds as good as other comparably featured units.

Este multiefectos tiene muchisimas opciones, por lo que tienes que leer detalladamente el manual para comprender algunas de las opciones, editar parches es sencillo, pero tienes que tener un poco de conocimiento para saber que tipo de sonido quieres

Los efectos como el delay, chorus, flanger, reverb, son muy buenos, el ruido es casi nulo, yo utilizaba pedales de efecto individuales y el sonido no era bueno, pero la GNX3 tiene un sistema que hace que el orden de los efectos sea el optimo y asi sacarle el mejor sonido, solo el Whammy se escucha un poco falso y otra cosa mala es que no se pueden poner dos efectos a la vez, tambien no me gusta que al cambiar de preset se escucha un silencio entre el cambio. El simulador de amps y cabs es bueno, se puede comprarar con un line6 pero no le llega a uns sonido valvular. Algunos presets tienen un sonido muy alto y tienes que arreglarlos para que todos tengan un sonido estandar. El sonido de la grabadora es regular, pero se puede mejorar la calidad con una tarjeta smartmedia.

Solo los he necesitado una vez, la atencion por mail fue inmediata, mi problema fue que no funcionaban algunos botones, me solucionaron el problema diciendome que aplicara liquido limpiador de polvo para aparatos electricos y asi fue como volvieron a funcionar.

Mi estilo de musica es versatil, desde rock hasta metal o hardcore, tengo 6 a?os tocando. Tiene muchas opciones buenas, como el poder crear tu propio amplificador con Hyper modelos, yo he creado un Mesa boogie con un marshall jcm800 y suena muy original.

10 THIS UNIT KICKS BUTT!Right off the bat i had happening tones with it. I do suggest using the targeting system set up to what your playing into.

I go from a Iron Maiden Strat ,to a Gibson S.G. to an E.M.G. loaded Ibanez R.G.series,to an Yamaha R.G.1212 active in the course of a night.I play it into a Fender Twin and the P.A. at the same time.This sounds great through a tube amp, it seems to fatten it up,and using the P.A. helps with the F.O.H. volume.This unit has tone if you just check out the manual. I do Preist,Skynard,Ozzy,Thin Lizzy,AC/DC, and every thing in between,and time and time again it comes through with great sound.

I always have a back up who wouldn't? But it's also digitech an RP-21D but i've never had to bust it out ecept for fun

The best

Yeah I'd gey another one.Perhaps the new one. I cover many different styles,I gig constantly.It's always just the way I left it.

I found that some of the things take a little time to get used of as of any effects system that you get, but on the other hand this is actually a very simple system to use, but ive also been into audio engineering for 37 years,

I have never heard a effects system that sounds this clear in all my 45 years of audio engineering, i use several types of guiatrs in this thing and they all sound great, some of my guitars i plug into it are, a shecter diamond series J, all american fender strat with a custom tonelocking sytem with a free floating bridge, a jackson RR3 Rhods, And a gibson s-j40 which is one of my acoustic guitars i use that sounds great through it to, i simply just love the sound with a passion, a few of the amps i use are, a randall cyclone, fender twin reverb, a couple of marshall amps, and a mesa boogie rectifier, and they all sound incredable

I cant really tell you much about the reliability factor as i havent had it long enough to judge, but it seems very sturdy so far!

I had emailed them to ask them if they had any kind of patches they could send me through email and they got back with me very very quick within around 20 mins and then another time to ask about what kind of flash card they recomend to use with the gnx 3 and they got back to me with around 20 mins as before so i give them a 10!!!

I play a all kinds of music like metal,old country and new, blues and lots more and the gnx3 does it all with no shame to bare! i have been playing guiatar for 42 years and never heard a system that could pump the sound like this thing can, if i had ever lost this thing or someone stole it i would buy it again in a heartbeat! i love everything about this unit, and the thing that i love the most is how you can tweak any sound you want in the unit. i had compared this unit to alot of other units including the vox tone works, and several roland units and the gnx3 blows them far far away, another thing i love about it is the 8-track digital recorder which is awsome, i never lose song ideas like did before now thanks to the gnx3, another thing id like to talk about is how alot of people have been dising this wonderfull product, the only reason those of you dont like the sounds this thing pushes out is because you dont know how to use it yet and i sugest you should learn how to use it before you diss it and make other people think its sh** quit wasting others time with your nonsense and learn how to use an affect system or go get another hobbie I and other people who know its good are sick of people like you dissing it so please leave the submitting alone, and for those of you who are thinking about getting it get it, i promise you that you will love it trust me just put the bad comments away and focus on the good you will love it for 400 bucks its a steal for what you get!!!!

Just got mine a few days ago. It is complicates at first, every lil thing has to be set up for example ur instrument, microphones, and the target system, where do u wanna send it to. but then it helps by looking through the manual book. Its been a few days since i got it and i just figured out how to use the talker today! but hey its always complicated when it comes to a big toy like this one..

I use it with my 15 watt marshall amp and it sounds superb!! tried it with a huge marshall stack last night at my pal's and it sounds excelent! my favourite is the "mesa dual rectrifier", i tried the talker today and its really really cool!! i get to make my guitar speak!! so anyways the WAH sounds awesome so does the whammy.. It has a LOT of cool sounds!! and theyre all a 10!! except for the pitch shift its doesnt sound right but it still give u a cool effect!! it has a fairly good drum machine..its good for practice and making music but u would still need a real drummer for real recordings. My comments on the sounds?? BUY IT!! NOW!!

Havent used it for gigs, but from all the jam sessions, i think i need a lil bit more time trying to figure out how to work the presets without pressing 5 pedals just to get to another amp.. and the recorder works as a back up too so its really cool

The guys at the sound community at digitech.com are very helpfull ure questions will be answered right away!

Its the best and the funnest toy ever made (from my oppinion) it lets me explore into other sounds and how to use it in my songs.. did a lot of recordings and this thing has everything in it.. and it boosts up my creativity level like a rocket!! and for the price that u pay for it? lets say i would really really try to get it if it were triple the price that i paid.. so get it guys! it'll change ur life

I've had mine for about a year now. This is my first and only effects gizmo that I've owned, so the learning curve may be a bit longer. You have to use the manual, at least I did, but that is to be expected. When you run into a problem, going back through the manual will usually give you the answer. I think an index would be a good idea to help find info. Definately get the MIDI cables! Downloading patches from the web site is a snap, just click on it and it is there, then save it, that easy. Also, you'll need a smartcard reader to get the music from the card to the computer. I'm not experienced with computer music software, but I really had no problems at all using cakewalk, that came with the unit. Now, updating the firmware could be easier, in my opinion, but that may just be me.

I use an ES335, an American Deluxe Strat and an American Tele, played through a Peavey Ranger 212 tube amp. I get great sounds with all. For people that say the sounds suck, they just need to learn how to use the thing, especially setting the TARGET SYSTEM. Hey, it took me a while too, but once you get there, it is worth it. Also, plugging into the effects loop to bypass your amplifiers preamp helps on many amps, otherwise you are doubling up there and it will sounds pretty crappy. I still like playing direct to the amp for the best sound, but this gives you quite a range of things you can do, plus the recorder records super digital quality. I run acoustic guitars with undersaddle pickups through this thing and (with some tweaking) get outstanding recordings with it. I'm also using a condenser mic and you can set it up in multiple ways as well, Dry, Reverb, Effects, etc. Bottom line is it is still an electronic gizmo, direct to the tubes sounds the best but this is right up there.

Not one problem in over a year.

Everything I've asked has been answered superbly. The "sound Community" on the DigiTech web site is great to ask and find answers to questions about practically everything.

I play mostly blues and classic rock. I've been playing for a little over 30 years (probably adds to my learning curve too). The best thing, for me, is the recorder. Normally, I don't use that many effects, but I sure have a blast trying them out. My biggest problem is sometimes I end up playing around with the settings more than actually playing guitar, but that is the fun part too. Things I"d like to see: compact flash cards (up to 2Gb) rather than "old" Smart Media (128 Mb max). This is just really amazing that they went with the smart media card. I wish too that it had a "send' and "return" so you could just plug it into the effects loop, plug guitar into the normal input, and just use it as a pure stomp box for live playing.

This is easy to use if you have worked with other processers. If not,you will get the hang of it quickly.

I have 2 Gibson Les Pauls running through a T.C.Electronics G-Major to Morley Vol & Wah to a Mesa Boogie triple rectifyer(sounds great).
I do not use the gnx3 with this set up,I use the gnx for practice only. I usualy run the gnx through headphones,computer speakers or my Peavey bandit. No mater what I run it through it will never sound like the tube amps it is supposed to sound like. I have been playing for about 17 years and my ears have become well at hearing the difference between quality and crap. This(the distortion) dose not sound natural at all. If you want great sound you MUST pay the price,it is soooooo true with music equiptment,YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Don't get me wrong,this is a way cool toy for practice(the recorder,drum looper ect.)

I have had the wah do some weird things like not turning on at times. The power chord is not durrable,I would not expect it to last long in giging situations. The rest of it is heavy duty.
If I used this for gigs,I would get a back up.

I e-mailed a question to them and got an answer right away.

I play metal,a little blues and praise and worship at church.
I have been playing for 17 years.
If it were stolen,I would get another one.
This thing is great to record ideas,work on new songs,practice with a back up band built in. This is why I have it.
What realy impressed me is this baby is made in the USA,now that rocks.

Anyone that has ever played a bit with a pedal board should not have too much trouble with this unit.
Editing is kind of tricky at first, so it will take a couple hours of practice.

I was completely shocked at how terrible this unit sounded.
I ran it through a roland jazz chorus 120, a 5150 peavey combo, and straight into a portable P.A. Every one of them sounded like crap.
I aslo recorded it into Pro Tools using the 1/4 inch jack and the available SP/DIF. Not much difference there either.
In particular I found the distortions lacking color. They just didn't seem to give out much of a tone. I was using a telecaster with seymour duncan 1952 single coils, and a original Ibanez artist with a seymour jeff beck humbucker at the neck and a seymour invader at the bridge.
Still no good distortion though. LAME!!!
I think the one effect I did enjoy was the vibrato, because it could do a decent surf rock impression.
other than that it was all very dismal.

I never had a problem with it when I used it. sturdy frame, but it gets a little hot.

with this unti comes a little computer software allowing you to store your presets and do a MIDI dump of all the junk in this clunker.
This however only works for windows users and Mac. OS 9 users.
AFTER TWO YEARS THEY STILL DO NOT HAVE AN OS X COMPATIBLE PROGRAM FOR THIS THING. that should tell you how great their customer service is.
where do these people think they are Utah???

I play pretty much everything, and i also happen to be a sound engineer.
I've been playing everything from rock, industrial, noisecore, country and jazz for over 15 years, AND THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I WOULD EVER BUY THIS AGAIN!!!
If you seriously want a pedalboard, with effects that truly shine through, then go take a line 6 Pod XT for a spin. Much better for about the same price.

I get a big kick out of reading the other reviews of this guitar tool. My favorites are the guys who don't know how to spell, use really poor grammar, and then want to complain about how complicated this device is. Duh!

The simple fact is that this is an advanced electronic tool. DigiTech has gone to great lengths to simplify operation as much as possible, and they have done an amazing job. But don?t fool yourself into believing that you can operate this device at its fullest potential without taking time to read the manual. You will be able to perform basic operations pretty easily, but to get the full range of potential sounds and service you will need to do some homework.

Ease of use is measured by three factors. First, what is your particular knowledge and experience with equipment of this nature? If it is high then you will likely find this piece of equipment easy to use right away. But if this is your first stomp box or processor then don?t expect to get much from it right away. That?s not DigiTech?s fault, it?s just a fact of life that you don?t know what you?re doing to begin with.

Second, and this is the one that is probably most important for folks, how well designed is the product for the task intended? There?s two ways to attack this question, and the first is the ?what it lacks? approach. In viewing the question in this light we can go through and find all the things we wish this device had on it. For instance, I?d like to see a second expression pedal (to control tone or volume while using wah, etc.), but the reality is that these type of ?wish list? really equate to a higher price.

That brings me to the second approach; what it can really do with what it has. The reality is that what it has, what it was designed for, and what it is supposed to do come together very nicely. It was designed to give users a combination of amp models, tone control, effects, and recording in one easy to use package. And it does all of that very nicely, especially for the price. As I said, I could certainly add more stuff to it, but then it wouldn?t be the GNX3 it would be the GNX4 or something else.

Now on to the third factor in assessing ease of use: price to performance comparison. I hinted at this above, but for our purposes the ultimate ease of use equation is whether it does what I want for the price I was willing to pay. Pay a higher price and you get more stuff, maybe easier use, and you?re no longer comparing apples to apples. But for the price (under $400) it is a great deal that does exactly what it claims to do. So, ease of use if very acceptable within the natural parameters of this device.

Finally, I must point out that ease of use will improve as your experience with the device grows. Think of it like learning to play the guitar again. When you first picked up a guitar, no matter how expensive or nice it was, getting good sounds was really hard. The more you played, the more you learned, the more sounds you got and the better you sounded. This device is the same. Ease of use is relative to your own experience and ability.

The first problem with sound quality is making sure that the GNX3 and your amp are set up properly. A friend of mine used the GNX3 with my headphones at first. I had it already set up and he really had a good time. Then he switched over to a Marshall short stack I had nearby. I had been playing on the amp using it?s own settings to control sound/tone. When he plugged in the GNX3 he didn?t compensate either the amp or GNX3 for the change in tonal quality he would expect. Thus, the GNX3 went from sounding ?awesome? on the headphones to ?really crappy? on the Marshall. After I set the Marshall up for his the GNX3 really ?improved,? but in reality it was always playing the same. He just wasn?t hearing it the same.

The second thing worth mentioning is the realization of ?faux sound? versus ?real sound.? In demonstrating the GNX3 to the same friend I showed him how there were some differences between the original equipment and the modeled sound of the GNX3. Using the same Marshall I showed him some of the ?tube sound? that came naturally with the analog system and then how it was a bit different when recreated digitally by the GNX3.

The long and short of it is that the GNX3 provides you an opportunity to get very similar sounds without the expense of actually buying all that great equipment. If you want the actual ?heavy brit? sound of the Marshall then you?ll need to spend the heavy bread for it, but with the GNX3 you can close enough that most listeners won?t really know the difference.

Based on that I?d rate sound quality on two scales with the first being the sound quality as compared to the real thing. The GNX3 has about an 8 when compared to the actual amps it is modeling. That?s not bad, and one should not avoid this device because it is not a 10. I?m not sure any digital device (and I have the GNX3, Pod, and a couple others) can ever be 100% the same as the original device. Sometimes the sounds of the original device are an anomaly rather than an intended outcome, so that makes things harder.

The second scale is the comparison of the GNX3 to other devices of a similar type. In this category I?m rating the GNX3 against my POD 2.0, Behringer, and some stomp boxes. In this category I give the GNX3 a 9.5. This means that it ranks right up there with the best of the others. It is a very nice device with good quality, and it well worth the money. The only reason I don?t rank it a 10 is that is not necessarily superior (which is what a 10 would be), but it?s by no means anything less than an equal.

Outstanding. As a fellow Utah resident I'm proud of what the boys in Salt Lake have done. It's a good piece of equipment that works well in the bedroom and on stage. I've used it at many gigs, and use it regularly without a backup.

I only called Salt Lake once about customer support. I got what I needed right away (it was already online, I just missed it). My problem wasn't complicated, but it was nice to know that the folks at the factor are knowledgable and helpful. That's a trait not often found in today's market.

I have somewhat eclectic taste when it comes to music. I play everything from KISS to Hank Williams (Sr and Jr). While I spend most of my stage time in classic rock, country, and blues I also enjoy playing jazz, pop, and some original stuff as well. The GNX3 allows me to be all things in all music styles, and with it I?m a lot better player than I am without it.

The beauty of the GNX3 is that I can use it in my bedroom to practice then stuff it in a carrying case to use on stage that night. I?ve got it programmed for 3 major gig types (classic rock/blues, crooner/pop, and country), so I just hit the right foot switches to kick back and forth to the sounds I need. And better still I can record small segments right on stage, so if I hit a lick that is especially attractive that night I can record it right then for later playback and diagnosis.

My final comment is to suggest that you consider the alternatives as well as your needs when evaluating this unit. It is a great little box, but if you don?t need all the stuff it has consider getting the GNX2 or something else. On the other hand, if you?re looking for a way to improve your private practice time, do some real basic recording (you will not be able to record the entire band with this box), and increase your tonal quality on stage then give the GNX3 a strong look. It?s the right price for the combination of toys you get in one box.