DigiTech GNX3

It took me a about a week of using the GNX3 to get up to speed on it's operation. Once you know how it is designed to be used it is very easy to dial in the sound you need.

I have a Strat, Les Paul, and a few acoustic guitars. They all sound great with this unit. I can't get the distortion I want out of the GNX3 so I use an ART DST4 Tube Pre-amp. I use twin keyboard amps so that I can make full use of the amp and cabinet modeling features.

Many patches are out on the web and with a little work you can build a great set of your own patches.

I got my used and beat up but it never fails me.

This thing is a powerhouse and is the center of my rig. I play blues, rock and acoustic and it does them all well. If it were stolen or lost I would get the GNX4.

the presets are a good place to start tweaking. It takes a lot of patience and reading the manual. I wish they at least would have made the presets the same volume. But after i figured most of it out I am real happy with the performance.

through my crate v-50 tube amp the GNX3 makes any guitar sound phenominal. The tubes take out any digital static and there is zero noise when plugged into the effects return.

I got the XD to smart media card adapter for 8 bucks at newegg.com. I still only get about 24 track minutes at CD quality per 256mb xd type m card but they are one third the price of the hard to find sm cards. I am suprised none of these other reviews has mentioned this upgrade. The adapter fits like a glove in the gnx3 sm card slot.

The unit was fairly simple to get going. Some of the effects needed some tweaking to get them to my liking, which wasn't all to difficult. It wasn't as easy to use as similar Boss units (GT-3).

The sounds were a bit more "digital" sounding than comparable Boss units. The autowah sounds plastic. The delays were pretty good.

It would shut off sometimes with no apparent reason. Sometimes my tracks would delete themselves.

I didn't ever get a hold of them. Never needed to.

The main problem with this thing was the fact that the drum machine would get thrown off when using the looper, which made it useless for live performace. Save yourself time and money and pick up a real looper and a multiple effects unit that doesn't try to squeeze gimmicky features in at the expense of quality.

A second grader could figure this thing out!Maybe I'm an exception but I put the manual down and just started playing with the seemingly obvious buttons,I could operate this thing for my nedds in a day or two.I have the 1.4 version.I'm guessing that's what it came with.

I go for my own sound.It depends on what you play this unit through as to how good the tone or sound effects are,when I run it through my Marantz 600 watt amp into my powered Eosone towers it blows most amp 412 stacks out of the water,run through an amp head or combo then you compromise your amps integrity.My band plays metal,me and the other guitarist have chose to use to use his GNX4 and my GNX3 into a PA for the sound we found as far as recording goes,when we go on stage it's stacks.The playback quality is CD,as well as playing through a PA.

I can't see having a problem with this unless your just throwing it around.It's built very solid.

Haven't dealt with them.

We are a hard rock/metal band,this is perfect for us.I've been playing 4 years now and have owned Mesa,Randall,Marshall,and have played just about all brands of guitar.If this were lost or stolen I'd get the GNX4.There is nothing I don't like about this all in one device in this price range and I'm a picky person.This is a guitarists machine and it will keep the ideas flowing for as long as you want.I had my doubts about any effects machines at first,my mind has been changed.

getting a good sound out of the GNX3 is easy through the knobs. the matrix set-up switches makes choosing settings intuitive. foot pedals and written explanations are also intuitive. manual is just a reference. pc editor is a great tool for even quicker sound shaping and sound back-up(banks/ patches).

set-up: 'the luke music man' guitar, imitation of Eddie Van halen's guitar. it has active pick-ups. playing through headphones and monitor speakers.

I dont use a guitar amp with it, I use the build in amp sims instead. build in fx are also great (distortion/ reverb, chorus, pitch shifter). Specifically the gen-factor puts ectra value to the unit, mixing different amp sims makes fat combos.

i've been tweaking sounds for years, instead of playing guitar and making music. I owned lots of gear (Line6, zoom, sansAmp, Roland, Boss etc). Until now!. Everything I need is in this unit (sound, fx, recording, looper, drum machine). Now I just select a great amp tone, drum and start playing & recording again. No wiring problems, all is connected inside (obvious!).

I don't want to sound exactly like some famous guitar player, but globally I like the Van Halens fresh sound and Dimmu Borgir fat sound. As mentioned I don't want to spent time tweaking. Therefore I bought MFXSupermodel patches. 40 euro's only for other man's professional time (he owns a studio). The amp sounds now are superb!. Fresh and natural sounding. Artist settings I cannot use right from the MFX cd, but those are just a start for further tweak'n.

My "The Luke" guitar, active picks are excellent combination to get VanHalen-like sounds. Before I owned a BC Rich Ironbird which sounded great for brutal metal and GnR Slash like sound (you could also use a Jackson, Scheckter or Fender Telecaster guitar).

just turn on, it works!. play & have fun
Would use it without back-up. No worries

Tweaking FX for 8 years now, actually playing guitar for about 4 years. This unit is the perfect match for me. Now I switch on, choose sound and drum, record, play..!. I'm playing fresh metal, sometimes brutal (althouhg you should need a Jackson/ Schechter guitar for this)

would prefer possibity to connect lcd monitor to unit, so I can edit patches right from the unit so I don't need pc at all (future?)

Because it is a all solutions unit (fx, amp sim, record, drum) hard to compare to other gear. when you rely on pc, you should also check out Amplitube 2 or guitar rig 2. When stolen, I would buy GNX4 (midi drum and pc patch editor more fancy)

Not a new board but a good one. I soaked mine up from ebay for cheap. Sounds fine and I like the amp models for recording. What I like best was the stupid price of it now. Its a workstation with a drum unit and recorder for cheap. New sounds can be added and changed easy. The edit program is older and looks like Zoom 9.2tt one but smaller. It works, its manual is clear.

Sounds good. Mine had a power supply that rattled ( prob dropped so ebay seller said call the company) I can live with it. My Mesa 20-20 cranks and sounds cool with other gear so I tried the GNX3. I set the output mode for my gear and it was pleasing. Effects are good and I run stereo. Now the next step was telling my wife I needed model packs. With her permission I added the GNX3 Supermodels!! Woo Hooo Now I have so many ways to run and hide from her and an amp model sound for every one of her moods

I jammed with some friends that have PODS and the model packs and they prefer my sound! Stick it! If I found another OBO on ebay I'd grab one. Mine was beat to death and all nicked up from the previous owner but it works fine.

No dealings with Digitech yet. They have a forum and the Supermodel guys answer most of my questions better than I expected!!

Rock Rock and Rock! I had a POD XT and a Korg Box 1500. The GNX3 smokes these toys! I can make music and stay away from bad uninspiring conversations! I play guitar and play it often. Home from work and right to guitar! What a life eh??

It's pretty easy to get a good sound. Editing patches is easy too but if you dont have midi in/out on your pc you need a USB midi interface like a midisport Uno or equivalenet. The manual is good and the firmaware is the lastest

Quiet pedal. This is what i like the best. the amp models are good enough for the most part. Some of the patches are oddball, but tweaking the GNX3 is easier than the other competitors. I use a hot rod deville and it sounds good with a les paul and Stratocaster. On the advice of a frind with a GNX4 I bought the SuperModel disc for this GNX. WOOT!! If you want the GNX3 to wake up, you have to get the disc! My GNX3 sounds are incredible! I love the DrZ and Princeton Presets. Dead ON. Nice warm background distortion with a poppy clean bass. I never could have made a patch as good! Best thing is the amp models in these packs do NOT even use the distortion stompboxes. The gains for High gain amps like Hughes Kettner, Mesa's and Marshall will blow your mind! Not only can you get artist sounds, I can easily find an amp model I want from the disc library and booom! Done!

the efex can really add some flavour. You can't place them in a chain but who cares. it sounds fine the way it is. i tried the ones that you can place efx around, most of the time the efx sounded like crap when you changed it. or it was just me.

Sound Q with Digitech and tweaks an 8. Sound Q with Super model disc is an 11!! Over the top!

Gigging with the GNX3 is plenty. My setup is simple and my sounds are fine. I use stompbox mode and take full adv of control assignments since I know how to use them. Thanks MTPRO guys!! I love my GNX3!

It's a metal case, switches seem stabel.

Excellent. I emailed them about spdif settings and had a response next day.

I play country, metal, classic, alt covers. been at it for 22yrs. Used all kinds of gear. The GNX3 is plenty for me. With the SuperModel amp model library I have enough to play with for good while. I record and use it live. The on board recorder is good for a tune or two, but 128Mb is limited. I mainly use cubase and an EMU 1820M interface. I compared to a Boss and Line 6 and frankly didn't like the ones with as much acclaim. I'll take the GNX3 and Super Model library any day! For the price of a cheap guitar tuner you can add the super discs and have a creation platform that will be hard to beat at this price. I got mine at KTJ music and the super pack disc at mtprosound.com LOVE IT! Both for less than $320. Ktj was blowing these out for 259.

Read the manual...after that it is a piece of cake to work with. Everything can be tweaked quite easily and fast, even on the spot.

I am running it through a Fender Stage 160 and the sound can be decent. In fact I have had a lot of musicians come to me to ask about my "great" tone. In my opinion the clean sound is average at best! The cleanest sound I can get still distorts a bit, even at low volumes. The effects processor generally delivers an overall muddy even on bypass! If I plug my piezo through the the pedal on bypass it kills all the acoustic sound you would normally get if you connect the guitar directly to the amp. What this means is that it does not appear to have a true bypass switch. Other than that the cabinet modeling is pretty decent and can get you sounds close to a Mesa rectifier if you tweak it enough. I am considering buying a 4x12 cabinet to get a better low end response.

I have been using mine actively (2-3 gigs per week) for about 9 months and I already have problems with the expression pedal Wah-Wah switch. It has a sensitivity function to adjust the switch but what I have noticed is that, since the day I bought the pedal, the button now requires more pressure to turn on and off. I suspect that it will soon not respond to any pressure at all. One of the buttons required for adjusting effects is going bad as well. This unit has always been treated with as much care as possible. Overall it seems sturdy but I am not sure it is sturdy enough for all kinds of players.

n/a haven't bother to report any of my problems yet.

It is an overall good effects solution for the amount you pay. There is just not enough flexibility such as being able to create your own effects algorythms like in several higher end processors such as the G Force from TC Electronics or Rocktron's Prophesy II guitar pre-amps.

When you first open up the box....it seems really intimidating..but once you get going, it only takes a week or 2 to start figuring it all out. Whoever said the manual is hard to read...isnt reading it thoroughly enough.

I have been using my GNX3 for over a year now...and I couldnt be more pleased with it. You have to really work with the manual and your ear, to obtain the sound you are looking for.
I have a Fender stage 112, and the noise gate is absolutey brilliant when it comes to reducing hiss. This amp is now completely silent. I have been using it with my roland cube 30 alot lately. These are both solid state amps, and already have some nice fx on board. But the GNX3 just takes it to the next level. As far as muddy sounds / lack of tone. If you are having this problem, you are not setting your Frequencies right. Play around with it a little. There are eq's for treble, mid, and bass. if you cant get one patch that is good on both green, and red channels, just make another of the same patch in the next slot, and add a different stompbox model / or more drive to the same one. One thing I would like to see (if it doesnt already exist, I havent looked on the site for a long time) is an external pedal you can plug in to control your volume / fx / and most importantly WAH....i'll admit ..the wah isnt as a good as the crybaby 535Q I have. But it's close now that i know how to set it up.

Omg, for gigging...amazing. It beats hauling around like 20 separate pedals. Again, you just have to get a feel for setting it up, and you will never go back. I am buying the new GNX3000 as soon as I can afford it. =)

I couldnt be more pleased with the GNX3. I had a number of pedals before...the only ones I kept were my Crybaby, and my original 70's Fuzz Face.

first of all, if don't know how to use a multi-fx unit, then it would be hard for u 2 understand it right away. then patch editing is fairly easy and straight forward, record is pretty hard to take in, since i never actually used one myself so it's new to me. it's just hard 2 remember everything and can't make things work out the first time and another thing is that it's very detailed it's not gonna work or sound right if it's not setup right. Pretty much it's all straight forward and fairly easy once you get it down!!!

This unit is great....all around! The amp modeling is very convincing. Doesn't have all the deminsions of tube, but some is there and it makes a big difference and gives you a sound that is very....VERY close to the real thing! the fx's are also great the chorus actually brings out the amp models in my opinion. I can get more sounds out of this thing than i can use. People have to remember that it takes time to set it up just right, so just b/c u don't get you sound right off the back, don't trash it. Also, if you're using amp modeling set your amp to a flat eq (usally treb, mid,bass are all set a 12'oclock) set your amp model as you would your amp so ur pretty much using your amp's power amp in general. Remember different amps have different characteristics so don't trask different models just b/c it doesn't fit your needs. In my opinion this unit gives me the EXACT sound i need. The only thing i don't like is how the fx chain is set up i would like the rotary effect after the wah in the signal but it's in with the modulation so it's not as strong as i want it to be, but I can live with it. Other wise, no real problems!

I've only had it for a couple of months so it's too early to tell, but I think that it's very reliable it's made of freakin' metal, and it's pretty heavy. I would definitely gig w/o a backup, all though i brought this as a back up for my usual setup but this thing rocks! my rating is for how it's been so far and how I feel it will last!

never dealt with company, so can't rate it

I've been playin for little over 15 years and played all styles of music. I have a very good ear when it comes to tone as well as music. I have various amps, all solid state; and a few les pauls. I have a pedal board filled with differnt stompboxes and fxs. There are some things that can be improved which they did with the gnx 4 like the memory (cf) and usb port, mp3, phantom power for the mic; which is worth the extra $200. Sound wise it's one of the best. There are some snobs out there that will tell that nothing is better than tube. I love tube also, to me it's the greatest sound, but that's not the only sound. i've heard and gotten great sounds out of solid state and digital amps, so don't let anyone tell you what you should like, let your ears be the judge. I'd buy tube if i could afford it but i can't so amp modeling is perfect for me: tube sound for less money and less matainence. i'm very satisfied with this unit(using it with a epi les paul custom through 2 marshall mgdfx full stacks), it gives me the sound I've been looking for: fender twin for cln, jcm 900/tube screamer for dirty. cheaper than line 6 and more versatile and features. if it was stolen i'd first go after a gnx 4 coz of the updates they made, but if wasnt available i'd get the gnx3 again... It's a great product, especially if you want a professional, flexible sound, with very expensive and vintage amps great fxs total flexability for few c notes. I don't have any sound probles either, no hiss, no hum, i can turn it up loud, NO NOISE! it may feedback if really distorted but no noise! chorus clean and clear great delay pitch/whammy are great stompbox and amps are great......IT"S ALL GREAT!!! Overall it's a great investment even for a backup! The most important thing is that you have to spend the time to set it up RIGHT! It may take a few months, but it'll be worth it when have the tone of your dreams!

It was relatively easy to get the sound that I was looking for. The presets are ok, but I would never use them. They worked good as a starting point to get what I wanted. The manual wasn't bad, it helped in the recording aspect.

The sound quality is actually pretty good. I used this unit with a Gibson SG and a Marshall AVT150. It actually got rid of some of the noise between the guitar and amp.

For gigging this unit is UNACCEPTABLE! There is a lag time between effect switches which, for me, poses a huge problem. Even going from clean to distortion skips a beat unless I use the bypass to get my clean.

Overall Rating: Unacceptable

ebay purchase it is not easy to use at all it is complicated touchy feed back clipping steady i didnt even get into editing patches because i quickly realized that this thing is not for me the manual is a manual the guys that write it are probabbly office clerks or something so its not their fault

i don't think digitech thought about sound quality when they designed this piece of *** it seems to me the goal was to put as many bells and whistles as possible in it and it does have plenty of those too bad the one whistle needed most was overlooked....that being tone. and what is the big deal with this amp modelling crap i dont get it if you dont like the sound of your amp god damnit buy a new one why would i want a peddle to destroy the tone of my hughes and kettner tube50 seems kinda stupid to me amp modelling who needs it

seems pretty sturdy dont spill beer on it and it would last forever i bet but it is still scrap

what's that

over all it is scrap the effects are good if you have 6 years to edit them to where they sound good the digital recorder is marginal the drum beats are a joke i play anything from abba to zz top and this unit does not do a thing for me the tone is extremely terrible it destroys your tone completely i highly recommend staying away from this pile of digital crap buy yourself a good amp and a couple of good stomp boxes or better yet plug straight in and play from the heart!!!!

It is not very easy to use the buttons are complikated and they feel a little out of place and not very ergonomic. The editing patches aren't very good for what I expected its perforamance. The manual has tons of speeling errros and doesn't help me with my problems.

I am using a '57 Gibson Les Paul (replica), I used a Cube 50 with it. I think it is a little noisy and not very helpfull. I think on all settings it is a little noisay and archaeic. The effects aren't as good as I thought they would be but are ok for beginners in my opinion. I get the sounds of artists like Pete Townshed, and Jimi Hendrix, along with a little Jimmy Page. I think both distortion and Chorus are very bad.

I have gone through a few and I don't really trust it as much as I would like to. I would never use it on a gig without backup, thats not very reliabul.

I called once and got a person who you could tell was obviously not very good at english but friendly, but also didn't really help me with the problem because of his spotty english.

I think for the price it should bw better. I think it would be okay if someone never heard a guitar before, it would amaze them but it stands far away from amaxing me. I personally think it was a waste of money but they tried and failed in building it. I think it can be fun sometimes.

I bought my GNX3 new in January 2006, with firmware version 1.5

After hearing so many horror stories about difficulty editing the GNX3 I was concerned. But it was actually quite intuitive and easy to edit. I found the Korg AX3000G to be much more difficult to edit. But everything on the GNX3 is laid out clearly and logically. Just use the arrow buttons to choose your amp/cabinet/effect, then use the knobs to adjust parameters according to the chart beneath them. Of course there's a learning curve--what's wrong with learning? That's the price you pay for having so many features in one device! The manual seems pretty comprehensive, and I've found it helpful.

I highly recommend using the included GenEdit software to adjust all parameters and hear the results in real-time. The recording/looping/drum machine functions might require the manual to figure out, but they're still not difficult to learn. The only real difficulties I had without the manual was figuring out how to switch among presets again after you're in editing mode, and how to store modified presets. But once you figure it out, you know it forever.

I haven't delved into recording, looping or the drum machine too much yet. But my computer immediately recognized the GNX3 via MIDI, so I could use the GenEdit software easily. It was easy to figure out how to turn on the drum machine and switch styles, and this certainly helps the creative process. However, I don't think you can upload your own MIDI drum files to play along with your own grooves (I may be wrong). I would like to have this feature, but the JamAlong input (1/8") allows you to add external music to play along with.

The recorder looks fairly simple to use, except that there is only 16MB of onboard memory (3 track minutes of recording time). The GNX3's worst flaw is that it uses SmartMedia, which is the digital equivalent of 8-track tape. What was Digitech thinking? The SmartCard must be removed and used with a card reader to access contents on your computer. The other major flaws are no USB, and no mic preamp phantom power. The GNX4 corrects these flaws, but I don't see how that comes close to justifying the $200 price difference, since they ultimately sound the same. As a portable multiFX unit and "scratch pad" recorder that can be output (analog or S/PDIF digital) to a computer interface, the GNX3 serves me just fine.

I haven't used the JamMan feature yet, but I do plan to get a lot of use out of it if it works well. JamMan is one reason I chose this pedal over the GNX3000.

Other nice features are an On/Off power switch (the Korg AX3000G didn't have one), an XLR ejection button, large level knobs on the back panel, and a very rugged medal case. I did like the expression pedal action on the Korg AX3000G better, but there is nothing wrong with the GNX3's expression pedal. The power supply is an extremely large and heavy affair, but it's rugged enough to travel with the pedal. Replacement power supplies currently retail for around $40, which is about twice the price they should cost. Shame on Digitech for nickle & diming their own customers.

One thing I wish it came with is a gig bag, or even a metal snap-on cover. Without an optional case ($25 and up), this is an awkward device to store and transport.

I'm using an Ibanez guitar/Yamaha Bass >> GNX3 >> headphones/Roland Microcube amp/Presonus Firebox computer interface.

"Great tone" is highly subjective, but I'm very impressed with the range and versatility of tones available here. I especially love the Big Muff Pi fuzzbox model, which is good enough to save me $80 on a Big Muff pedal. The Arbiter Fuzz model ain't bad either. The Wah may not be as good as a separate pedal, but it's good enough considering its integration along with so many other effects in one box. Clean tones with subtle modulation (e.g., Pink Floyd) sound *fantastic*!

I dialed in some Led Zeppelin and Rush tones fairly easily, and grabbed several awesome Pink Floyd tones from the Digitech website community. The website also provided me with acceptable tones for Badfinger, the Beatles, Boston, Cake, Deep Purple and more artists. This pedal is truly versatile, and great-sounding to me. I've never seen so much tone-shaping capability in one box. People who complain about the GNX3's tone probably think they could rewrite Shakespeare better also. There's always room for improvement in anything, but for the price I can't imagine doing better than the sound you get from the GNX3. I say this noting that my traditional opinion of Digitech is that their products sound "way too digital" for my tastes. That's not the case with the GNX3.

The ability to warp amp/cabinet models into hypermodels (and to warp the hypermodels as well), opens to the door to limitless possibilities. The warp feature alone should impress anyone.

Also, the GNX3 is very quiet. No perceptible hum or noise at the settings I've been using. I'm impressed by that as well.

I bought the GNX3 along with a Korg AX3000G to test them head-to-head. The Korg model was plagued with quality problems from the instant I turned it on. The Digitech has worked smoothly for me since I bought it two days ago. No glitches at all, except for the usual switching sounds when changing presets. The case is built like a tank. I'm concerned about how long the stomp buttons and expression pedal will last, but that's psychological. They've worked just fine so far.

At this point, I will use it without backup for gigging until it gives me a reason to bring a backup. But then again, I'm a drummer, so my guitar gigging is limited to open-mic nights!

Haven't had a need to contact them yet, but the customer service "vibe" I get from Digitech is not very positive.

Among other things, you must register the product within 10 days of purchase to validate the warranty, and that's an abominable practice in my opinion. Any company should fix a defective product when the defect is shipped with the unit, even if the defect doesn't reveal itself for years. Registering with companies only gives them the ability to sell your personal information at a profit (or to have it stolen from their databases), "privacy" policies notwithstanding. The "warranty registration card" requests such irrelevant information as your employer, job title, email address and fax number. What on earth does that have to do with them replacing a chip that they installed incorrectly? It's shameful.

The Digitech website is both good and bad. It's confusing, inconsistent, difficult to navigate, and there is vastly more information about some products than others. But once you finally locate the GNX3 community, you'll find hundreds of presets and other good stuff to make the GNX3 even more fun and useful for you. The good news is that you don't have to register to download the user presets.

Finally, I think Digitech's pricing should fall under "customer service", and it's inexcusable that they charge $200 more for the GNX4, considering the modest improvements it contains over the GNX3.

I play classic Rock & Roll (from the Yardbirds to full-on distortion and fuzz), progressive rock, some heavy metal, and some acoustic music. I'm also working on an independent film soundtrack. I'm using the GNX3 mainly for recording on the computer, but also for playing live at open-mic nights. I'm a drummer mainly, but have also played guitar for 20 years. I also own a Line 6 Guitar Port, which is comparable to the GNX3 in terms of tone-shaping capability. But the Guitar Port is not portable, and I don't like Line 6's corporate attitude, so I didn't even consider the POD XT Live.

Neither of the two Korg AX3000G's I tested worked properly, so Korg has some quality issues to work out. But from what I could tell the AX3000G would complement, rather than replace the GNX3, because the Korg unit is more geared toward special effects/guitar synth sounds, and it has absolutely no onboard recording/drum machine functions.

The GNX3's 65 factory presets are basically a showcase for the amps, cabinets, and effects. They are not usable in the real world. That's why some reviewers say the presets are great, and others say they suck--they sound good enough, but they're unusable in practice. And you can't overwrite them.... The unit comes with the factory presets duplicated in 65 user presets, which you can modify and store.

I'm not at all satisfied with only 65 user presets, and the inability to overwrite factory presets. The presets are only 2.5KB in size, after all (smaller than the file size of this review text!). So that means only 162KB is devoted to presets (Yes, you read that right--roughly the size of a Commodore 64's memory back in 1981). Unfortunately, all the multiFX boards I researched have only a limited number of user presets. The engineers who design these things must still wear digital watches and listen to Frankie Goes To Hollywood on their car cassette players. GET WITH THE 21st CENTURY, DIGITECH!!! There is no good reason we should have to upload and download presets to a computer just because you limited us to a measely 65 user presets.

What I love about the GNX3 is that it's just so easy to plug in and get a great variety of nice-sounding tones, and to get creative by playing along with the drum machine. I also love the PC editing capability. The only thing I truly *hate* about it is that it uses SmartMedia rather than Compact Flash (I already own several GB's worth of Compact Flash, but what kind of dinosaur owns high-capacity SmartMedia?).

Otherwise, it's one of those rare occasions where I'm genuinely happy with a product, at the price I paid for it ($235).

If it were lost, I'd cry. If it were stolen, I'd get mean mad. If I had the cash available, I'd definitely replace it--unless digitech lowers the price of the GNX4. But I'd never pay $200 extra for the GNX4.

Finally, here's an interesting revelation: If Digitech had included the ability to load and unload presets from a computer, I might very well have gone with something from the RP series instead. I really didn't need such a huge and heavy pedal, but I did need the ability to backup and retrieve presets. Many of you are gigging guitarists, however, so the GNX3 is probably the better choice for you.

I spent a *LOT* of time researching and testing guitar multiFX boards, so I hope this review makes it easier for you to decide!

This processor has a lot of sounds, but require A LOT of tweaking to get just the right one. Editing the patches is so hard to do and requires so much expensive software, the I try to avoid it. The mannual for this product has no index, is not catigorized, and has some gross spelling and grammer errors. Basicly, therer is no mannual.

I use a washburn X-50 and a fender '72 thinline through a roland cube 60(most of the time). The distortion sounds are a little fuzzy, but overall pretty good. The other effects are GREAT! Absolutley. I actually got my guiars to talk! It takes some time, but I can get the identical sounds of Alvin Lee, David Gilmore, Jerry Garcia, Pete Townshed, and Robbie Robertson. All effects - very good.

I got it used over a year ago and it hasn't failed me yet.

Have not dealt with

Only bad thing - WHY IS THERE ONLY 24 MINUTES FOR RECORDING? IF I AM WRITING, I CAN GO FOR ANHOUR! PLEASE MAKE BIGGER MEGABITE SMART CARDS!

It really depends on how good "good" sound is to you. If you are a "purist", you will probably hate this pedal. Go drop $4000 on a Marshall or Mesa Boogie, plug in and go. I have had mine for over a year now and I absolutely love it. Every soundman my band plays for ALWAYS comments on how great my sound is. I must add that I have spent a great deal of time tweaking EVERY possible parameter of EVERY sound. I enjoy that processors offer great amounts of creativity and flexibility over just a standard amp. Sound is 10 for those willing to dig in, 6 for the lazies. Editing patches can be overwhelming, I like to set up two or three identical patches and try different things with each. Editing is 8, I still have trouble remembering how to get through the amp settings. Lazies will be buried by the depth and give this a 5. The manual has answered every question I have sought. The firmware version is 1.5.

Sound is 10. I give it that rating because I have put in the time to get a great sound out of it. The editing seems endless and I can't believe there is NO way to eventually satisfy your ears with this thing. I run it straight through a direct box to the mixer!!!!!! ALWAYS! No feedback issues for this guitarist! I love going to a gig with just my gnx3 and my guitar case, and blowing the freakin' doors off the place. Maybe Digitech would like to sponsor us? Hint, hint. Stop laughing. No noise issues on HEAVY distortion or acoustic settings (put in the time people!) I don't worry about sounding like anyone else, do you really think there is any true original sound anymore? No, you will always sound "like" someone, the best thing to do is find the sound that makes you want to keep playing.

I have depended on it for a year and a half now. Gigs, practices, jams, and I got it used so who knows what the hell? I will never use anything but Digitech processing as long as I am playing.

Have not dealt with Digitech in any way, shape, or form. They have a great sound community on their website and I am always surprised at how often the Digi"techs" reply in the threads. I'll give it a "no opinion" only based on the fact that I have not contacted anyone directly.

I am the founder of "honeybunches Of DEATH", we are a HEAVY/Rockin'/Comedy/Metal band in Colorado. Our website is www.honeybunchesofdeath.com. We have only been together for one year and only practice on Fridays for 2-3 hours. This unit is a PERFECT match for my music because I refuse to set creative limits (other than my own lack of technique/knowledge/talent!). When inspiration strikes, all bets are off! If it was stolen, I would find the person responsible and feed him/her/it feet-first into a wood chipper in front of their family on Christmas Day! Then write a song about it, a tell-all book, movie of the week, which would all include 80% hysterical laughter. I own a faded brown Gibson SG and a Takamine Explorer GX100B. I wish I had a GNX4 because...

MY ONLY BEEF WITH DIGITECH IS...

HOW THE HELL CAN I GET RID OF THIS F%$#^#$ SMART MEDIA? 24 MINUTES? THAT'S IT! WHEN I'M WRITING, I CAN GO FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR! PLEASE, OH PRETTY F&*%*&^ PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS LIMITATION! I WOULD GLADLY PAY 50-75 BUCKS TO UPGRADE THIS THING TO COMPACT FLASH OR WHATEVER. ANYTHING BUT 128 STINKING MEGAF$#%#$ BYTES! I LOVE TO TAKE THE SOUND OFF OF OUR BOARD AT PRACTICE AND PUT IT IN THE "JAM ALONG" CONNECTION! ANY GUESS AS TO WHETHER OR NOT OUR SET IS LONGER THAN 24 MINUTES? ANY GUESS AT ALL? COME ON, I'LL BE NICE? GUESS RIGHT NOW BEFORE SOMEONE DIES????

yes, it is.

Please send help!

First off, I'm not a professional musician, and have basically no experience with the various amps and effects the GNX3 emulates, so my opinion may be worth what you paid for it.

My GNX3 is running firmware 1.5.

It's pretty simple to get good sounds from this unit. Editing patches is pretty straightforward, but I do have one issue: The parameter knobs used to change the effects settings can be a pain to use when selecting among 100 different options (such as "mod level" 0-99), because they are just pots and have no "jog" or "go to the next value and stop" option. That problem is mitigated by the fact that in most cases, as soon as you touch a parameter knob, the "Data Wheel" becomes active and lets you edit the same parameter, and the Data Wheel DOES permit jog editing. However, for some bizarre reason there are a number of parameters that CAN'T be edited with the Data Wheel.

The digital 8-track is extremely easy to use, both for loops and songs. However, it is not possible to bounce loops (combine multiple loop tracks onto a single empty track), which is kind of annoying. Also, the looper can only be used on the "CD quality" sample setting, which means you have a pretty limited amount of loop space available unless you invest in a SmartMedia card.

The manual is pretty good, not great. I'd definitely recommend reading it, but once you've done that, exploring the machine is the best way to get comfortable with it.

My setup is: Schecter C1-E/A->GNX3->pair of Marshall MG10 amps. I also have a Strat clone (Aria Diamond) that I play through the same chain.

In general, the GNX3 sounds really good. Since I'm a home musician, I don't get much chance to crank everything all the way up and blow the windows out, but at the timid volumes I usually play at, most of the effects and amp models sound great.

I do have one serious problem with the GNX3: the Pitch Shift functions are junk. It actually has two pitch shifters, one in the "Chorus/Mod" module and one in the "Whammy" module. The two shifters have different problems:

* The Whammy shifter sounds horrible when chords are played though it. I find that strange, since I also have an RP-80 that allegedly uses the same DSP hardware, and the RP-80's whammy/pitch shifter sounds fantastic with chords.

* The chorus/mod shifter sounds great with chords -- in fact it sounds just like the RP-80's. However, the problem here is that if you assign the pitch value to the expression pedal, the unit produces noticable noise (pops) when shifting the pitch using the expression pedal. (You can also here the same pops when adjusting the pitch via the parameter knobs.) The result is that when you hit the pedal during a performance, you get a huge ugly CRACKLE in the middle of your song.

I actually sent my GNX3 back to Digitech a week after I got it, and explained these problems. The official response: "The unit is working as designed." I think this really sucks, since I REALLY like using the pitch shift on the RP-80, but the rest of the GNX3's sounds are good enough that I'm going to keep it.

It looks like I could run over it with my truck and not hurt it, but I'm not going to try it.

They were responsive and easy to talk to, but didn't address my problem, so I'll damn them with faint praise.

I've been playing on and off for 15 years, but only recently began to really take it seriously. I play pop, rock and blues mostly. If it were stolen I'd be pretty angry, and would probably check out a GNX4 to see if that more-expensive unit has the same whammy issues the GNX3 does.

I was looking at the Boss LoopStation XL, since mainly what I wanted was a looper/digital recorder. For approximately the same price, I got most of the LoopStation's features, as well as amp modelling and a comprehensive set of effects.

I wish I could run multiple chorus/mod effects at the same time.

The factory preset efect are very good. If your like me you like to edit your own effect and I found that it is very easy to get the sound you want by creating you own effects (up to 65 effect and i think 9 custom amp settings). The manual is very helpful especially when your figuring out the recording part.

I've used several different guitars with this board and the all sound good. However my acoustic guitar does not work very good with the GN3. I've used this with my Fender acoustasonic 30 amp and my Fender 15watt practice amp it sound great on my 15watter. It sound great on my acoustic amp but only at lower volume, but thats due to the amp. All of the effects sound good. Some of the effects do cut out here and there but I think that do to the noise gate option on the effect. You can get some great distortion for any style of music. Its got some great metal and hard rock distortions.

I bought this used so i dont know how old it is and i have never had any problem except for adaptor keeps shorting. Other than that it has been perfect. Would think about using a backup it would just be a waste of money.

Never dealt with.

I play just about every style ranging from folk to hard rock. I have been playing for 4 years. I also own a Boss flanger pedal and a Boss distortion pedal. I get much better distortion from the GNX3 than i could ever get from the Boss distortion. If it were stolen I probably could not afford a new one but I definently would want to buy one. I defenintly help me play an hard rock. And its got some unique effect that help with new age music.

Definately needed to scan the user's manual but once you figure out a few of the basics, it's easy enough to use. I haven't figured out the 8 track recorder yet though and I do consider myself as smart as the next guy. I've used computed based recording software, ADAT, etc. I think it is better layed out for deep level editing than my VAMP or J-Station, but still better done from the PC than from the unit itself.

I've also got a Johnson J-Station & Berhinger VAMP-2. It sounds better than both, particulary when played direct. The Berhinger is a distant 3rd. Nice pedal selection, including the Voodoo Labs Sparkle drive, Big Muff Pi, & Ibenez TS-7, among others.

haven't had it long enough to have much of an opinion yet. But looks rugged enough, steel construction, definately more solid than my VAMP which is 99% plastic (of course, it was only $100 too!)

Really good web page, haven't gotten with folks on the phone or anything.

I play mostly rock & blues, guitar, drums, & blues harp. Both my olders sons & I play an assortment of fender & gibson guitars through mostly fender tube amps. I like it better than my J-Station or VAMP although in all fairness, it did cost almost 3 times as much. It is very flexible & much more "tweekable" than either of my other units.

This is a complex unit but Digitech did a good job as far as ease of programming. If you're used to stompboxes, it might seem complex but if you've programmed processors, it will be no problem.

I'm not usually a big fan of digital processors, but this is the best I have tried. It sounds more realistic than any of the Boss processors. I recently tried a Boss GS-10 and thought it sounded terrible, nearly impossible to get a good sound out of. The GNX3 has much better, more usable sounds. The Boss is lifeless compared to this unit. It also works great for direct recording. I sold my Pod 2.0 when I purchased this. It works great in the studio and live.

My power supply died after about 14 months. I figured no big deal, I'll just order another from Digitech. They wanted $50.00 for a replacement power supply!!! It sounds like planned obsolecence to me. I'm so pissed off, I'll probably sell this on Ebay and try the Vox Valvetronix. I've had great luck with Vox/Korg in the past, and their Valvestate stuff sounds great.

I have to dock Digitech major points here because $50.00 is just a rip-off for a power supply. A while back, my Godlyke Power-All started getting noisy. I called Godlyke, and they sent me a replacement; no questions asked!! I will always buy Godlyke stuff in the future, but I'm done with Digitech. I paid $350 for my GNX3 at Guitar Center, I can't imagine why the power supply should be $50.00!! Total hose-job!!!

This is a good-sounding unit. I see that they've dropped to $300 at Zzounds, which is a good deal. Just be ready to drop another $50.00 on a power supply as soon as the warranty runs out. Luckily mine died at rehearsal, not a gig. Do not gig with this unless you have a backup power supply!!!!

I was thinking about picking up a GNX4, but Digitech has lost me as a customer for life!

I am using GNX3 v1.5 firmware. The later version of firmware came out-of-the-box, but there are options to update it if you buy an earlier version. It comes with 60 or so factory presets, many of which demonstrate the unit's numerous capabilities. Two demo tracks for the recorder are available out-of-the-box, or can be downloaded from DigiTech web site if you get an earlier model.

GNX3 provides a fairly easy interface, which is covered in sufficient detail in the manual. The interface is set up to edit one category of effect at a time, and each category operates like a regular stompbox - editing is likewise easy.

Amp warping is limited on the unit itself. When the warp feature is enabled, both the amp model and the cabinet image are warped together.

There are two utility menus - equivalents of "General Options" and "Recorder Options". This becomes confusing sometimes, because some "recorder options" need to be edited even when not using a recorder (for example, to route the mic input to main outputs).

The recorder is very easy to use, but limited insofar as rewinding and punching in. It's not possible to mark a specific time or measure except via playback. For me, the best usage for the recorder is to create loops. I use the optional foot controller to do this in stompbox or bank mode, but in recorder mode you can use the main pedals for this functionality.

The best way to edit presets on the GNX3 is using the MIDI interface with a PC, and the included GenEdit software. This allows to edit each patch while seeing all the settings simultaneously. Warping new amp/cabinet models is also improved vs. the floor unit (you can set the % warp of the amps separately from % warp of the cabs). Some effect parameters are available only via the GenEdit software (although you can technically assign the expression pedal to edit those as well).

I play primarily a Musicman SUB1 guitar (2 humbuckers, passive). I run the guitar to GNX3, then use the stereo outputs either to a stereo power amp or to two guitar and/or bass amps on either side. The best way to hear GNX3 is through a PA or a clean power amp; however, the unit includes compensation for various speaker types (1x12, 2x12, etc) if you're using actual amp(s) instead of running direct. For recording, I use the digital I/O (coaxial 24-bit PCM stereo) whenever possible/practical.

The noise produced by the unit is generally same as with any amp - by itself it's very quiet. When an amp model is overdriven, or a distortion pedal model is enabled, normal noise is generated (I was especially impressed with how accurately the stompboxes are modeled). The amp models follow volume control on guitar pretty accurately, in terms of response vs. the real thing. Direct box modeling produces zero audible noise, which I'd imagine is great for effect loops (I don't use them so I can't be sure).

All the effects provided on the GNX3 are very tweakable, unlike many of those on most comparable units. While certain sophisticated controls are not available (such as multi-voice chorus, multi-band compression, etc) those that are provided allow each effect to be suited to any particular song or musical situation. I can safely say that with GNX3 I can recreate just about any guitar sound, as well as many keyboard/synth sounds and even a few bass sounds - past or present.

In general, the effects are what I would call "studio quality". There is no noise or unwanted artifacts except with a few controller changes (changing volume via expression pedal too slowly causes some clicking noise, etc). The 3-band parametric EQ is tied into amp EQ controls - that's another thing I wish were separate and more adjustable. Also, the bandwidth control for middle EQ parameter is not adjustable.

So far the unit has been fail-free for me. The construction is very rugged, except for a few knobs that look like they might break off (instrument and mic input volume switches on the back panel). The unit is powered by a DigiTech adapter (comes with the unit), which eliminates possible dead battery problems at the root.

Because of the flexibility of the unit, I can be sure that having my guitar, the GNX, at least one amp, and at least two instrument cables (possibly a direct box or two in case of a PA situation) will get me through just about any gig.

I've sent messages to DigiTech via their web site. They've responded, somewhat briefly, to most of my questions (all questions pertaining to operation of the unit were answered). The FAQ section of the web site is handy also. There's a sound community available through the DigiTech web site that allows users to share their custom presets, and provides user-to-user support capability. I wish DigiTech provided more "technical" technical support, but usually their suggestions are sufficient to figure out what to do.

I've been playing guitar for 5 years, but I've played piano/keyboards since I was 4 years old. I grew up in the 90s, but with the spirit of 70s/80s. I play many styles of music, in bands and by myself, and consider my style eclectic: sometimes I'll play rock/metal, folk, funk, jazz/fusion, or even "neoclassical". For my needs, GNX is perfectly suitable for any of those situations - in the practice room, the studio, or on stage of any size.

To me, the GNX workstation concept is the wave of the future. The integration of 8-track recording bundled with multi-effects processing makes this a great practice and composing stand-alone unit. Additionally, GNX3 provides a 9-second long (short) looper memory, that allows to slow down up to 9 seconds of music down to 1/4 of original tempo.

GNX3 effects are very adjustable. Some of my favorite examples of tweakability include:

* preset mode! - even though this is now common-place on the market, I love this feature. I have an individual preset for each song that I play, all I have to do is arrange them in order of the set list for a particular gig. Within that preset, I have on the floor:
- a wah "model" with three available types (accessible via the V-Switch, see comment below)
- a stompbox (can be used as a mute also)
- two amp models (green/red or clean/distort channel) and an optional real-time warped model of the two, so up to 3 switchable channels
- a modulation effect (chorus, flanger, envelope, synth, auto-wah, etc) most of which are "stereo" effects
- a delay model up to 2000ms (2 seconds) - mono, stereo, or dual mono; analog or digital.
- a reverb of several types, again in stereo.
Additional effects/modules include:
- an optional pickup model, single->humbucker or humbucker->single
- noise reduction of two types, allowing potentially for Ebow-like violin sounds. It is also tweakable enough to get a sweet organ-like sound without the noise of plucked strings coming through.
- single-band compression, with the common controls (3 "knees", ratio of 1:1 through INF:1, attack and release)
- pitch shifter or whammy effect
Each effect/module is unique to the preset, but can be copied into another preset to be edited. I find the 60 user-editable presets enough for my purposes.

Some of my other favorite GNX3 features include:
* two LFOs, which run independently of other LFOs (such as for chorus, auto-wah, etc) - this allows for everything from crazy pitch-shifting effects and arpeggiation, to simple things like slowly panning reverb or modulation (my favorite). Any effect parameter or other controller can be assigned to the LFOs, with definable range. The speed varies from 1/20th Hz to 10 Hz. Shape can be adjusted for toggle changes (square), smooth gradual change (sine), or in-between (triangle).

* ability to assign up to 3 controllers to footswitch #5 (in stompbox mode) - for example, turn off modulation + switch amp + turn down compression, all on one button. Same can be done with the expression pedal, except on a continuous basis. Here's an example:
1. Assign Expr1 control to flanger panning, in the range of -99 to 0.
2. Assign Expr2 to modulation on/off (in this case it'll be flanger) - when the pedal gets past the halfway point, the flanger will turn on (when the panning is at about -50).
3. Assign Expr3 to another control, such as volume (maybe in the range of 75-100) or delay on/off.
Now I can use the expression pedal for an effective lead-in to a solo - as I depress the expression pedal, the flanger will pan in from the left as the volume is increasing or as delay is turned on. Rocking the pedal back will turn off the flanger, and bring the volume back or turn the delay back off. I sometimes wish the controller ranges were more programmable, but that can be achieved fairly easily with a separate MIDI controller.
Another drawback of the expression pedal is that when th

First off, I have a problem with getting to the point and tend to stray off the topic of things, so bare with me :p

I figured out how to get different sounds out of it within about 5 minutes at the store, but i still have yet figure out some of the recorder panel and the and the many things (or so it seems) that you can do by linking the expression pedal to effects. Manual is pretty good, I mean, it's not terribly in depth and its not very thick at all or anything but it does explain to you how to use the unit and what all of it's functions are, how to use them, what the stompboxes are modeled after, etc. I was getting great sounds out of this unit within an hour of plugging it in.

I'm using a Fender Jap Strat w/ a kahler locking tremolo and a 30W Peavey Rage 158 amp. (I play for self entertainment.)

This thing really shed new light on my amp. I've been playing for five years with no effects at all, except the distortion of my amp. The GNX3 really met and exceeded my expectations (with a few acceptions, of course) as far as sound quality and sound verstaility go. Every sound I've tried to get so far, I've gotten. These are the first effects i've ever heard and I'm sure there are better ones that are individual pedals, but the prices on them are usually $80+. You figure a distortion, reverb, delay, noise gate, and a compressor/sustainer and you're looking at around $300-500, and you get loads more than that with this unit for $400. To make things a bit simpler, I'll list the major effects and state my opinion on them.

Distortion- I've read that some people do not like these distortions or think they sound "weak" and "digital" or whatever. I can't say I agree with them. Over my amp and with my guitar, I think the distortions sound great. There are all the amp models (some with distortion) and cabinets which are fully tweakable and there are the stompboxes which are an effect on the unit, that are also fully tweakable with the same options that the real ones have. For example, you can blend two amp models and two cabinets together and get one sound, then add ANY of the distortions to it. That equals an endless list of sounds. It's not like if you cant get the distortion you want in 10 minutes, the equpiment sucks. It takes time to get the sound you want usually, and overall the distortions are great.

Mod': Chorus, Flange, Phaser, Tremolo, etc.- I think they all sound excellent and are very versatile. Bad thing about it is, you can't use two things in this category at once. Meaning no panner and tremolo together and stuff like that. The biggest flaw of this unit it is, but here's a hint: If you want to get a chorus sound with one of the other Mod sounds, just use the Detune feature for a chorus, as they sound nearly the same to me. After all, chorus is just detuning the signal and playing it back through the speaker(s) anyway. Nifty if you want to use "chorus" and flange at the same time ala The Wall.

Reverb- Sometimes I think that they lack a bit of warmth, but overall they're awesome. Many choices and settings.

Delay- One thing I wish I could do with this: Choose how much the delayed signal is distorted, or muffled (Vocals on natural science, by Rush). Other than that, no complaints at all.

Whammy, Pitch Shifter, Talker- Here's lies another slight downfall of the unit. I haven't really tried anything here besides the pitch shifter (Can't try the talkers because i don't have a mic). This was a bit of a letdown on this unit, say, to imitate a bass you make the pitch -12 and set it to where the modified signal is all that's heard. There are pips and jumps in the sound when this is done, and also when the pitch shifted sound is the one that's heard the most. Playing 'Fire' and some other hendrix songs doesn't sound bad at all, but it does when the pitch shifter is louder than the original signal. Not sure if it still does it when it's not dominate or not...

Wah- Overall: Pretty good. It could be a lot better, but it sounds ok for most songs. I could not, however, get voodoo child out of it. Oh well, i can't play it anyway ;)

Also there are AMAZING AMOUNTS of quality amp models and speaker cabs, which can be customized to no end. Recorder is excellent so far. Takes smartmedia, but i have a digicam that uses smartmedia so I guess I'm lucky :)

I love the sound quality of it.

I've never had any problems with it, besides i loosened the expression pedal bolt a bit with a ratchet. If I gigged (and I would if i could. Small town, no bands.) I wouldn't have backup, mainly because i can't afford it. If i could, I still wouldn't This thing seems pretty durable. Metal construction and all...

Oh yeah, I don't stomp the shit out of the pedals like an irresponsible tard. Helps, you know.

Never had to deal with them

I play progressive, alternative and rock music. Some (actually, many) of my favorite bands and artists are Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Satriani, The Beatles and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I've been playing for 5 years and I am 14. I also own a Fender DG-9NS 6 String and a Takamine EG523SC-12 12-String.

I compared this product, *Effects WITH recorder* to a Boss BR864 ($400) *Recorder WITH effects* and chose this one because i decided i wanted more effects and easier access to them than i wanted a better recorder. I also looked at the Boss ME-10 and Vox Tonelab SE (the one with two pedals) and decided i wanted this because i wanted some kind of recorder without spending loads more money.
If it were stolen, I wouldn't buy it again because I don't have any money :p, but if i were given the option to have it replaced compared to having one of it's competitors, I would take it.

I wish it had (in order):
1. A better pitch shifter
2. A better wah
3. The ability to use different mod effects at once

I like very much:
-. The plethora of sounds. This unit has virtually no limits if you're willing to spend time with it.
-. The quality of the sounds, which are exquisite through my amp.
-. The ability to record.

Notes: Manual can be found at http://digitech.com/literature.htm

I really enjoy using it, and i can mess with it for hours getting all kinds of sounds. Of course, you don't get the sound you want right off. You may become discouraged at first, but keep trying and you'll most likely get very close to or exactly what you're looking for.
Is it worth $400? Yes, very much so.
Is the sound and build quality gig worthy? I would use it for gigs, yes.
I'm glad of my decision to buy this piece of equipment that's really made me enjoy playing guitar more.

If you've read all this, you're more patient than I am and I hope it's benefited you, being a view from an amateur home musician's eyes. You can email me if you'd like if you have any questions about it.

I first became familiar with the GNX3 borrowing it from a friend. He never used it much (had a full Line-6 setup, so didn't a second set of fx) and didn't know it very well.

I downloaded the manual and skimmed through it while testing everything on the board at the same time. After a couple hours of tinkering I had it down--and it really is pretty easy to remember.

I'm just getting into guitar, and have maybe 6 months of playing time under my belt. I'm still playing on a $150 Dean that was the cheapest in the store, but the GNX cleans it up, gives it great tone, and makes it sound like a screamer.

My only beef is that I can't seem to get a very bright tone... either it's a low distorted sound or a high-pitch scream--when I'm looking for a warm tone that lets the high notes sing and the low notes roll. In any event I haven't really gotten into amp modeling, which is most certainly part of the problem--and I'm sure my el-cheapo guitar isn't helping either.

When my friend first brought the GNX3 up it had a problem where it would basically lock up whenever you tried to record on the 8-track. He thought he had deleted part of the program, but I got it working by erasing all the recorded songs. Since then I've never had a problem with it.

Never had to talk with Digitech, but rumor is they're awesome for customer-service

I'd give this processor a 9 out of 10. The only real annoyances I can think of are the V-switch for the wah-pedal (The sensitivity can be adjusted, but it seems no matter what I set it on it's either far too sensitive and switches when I don't want it to, or it's near impossible to make work and I have to put all my weight on it to make it go).

Beyond that I'm sad that there's no ability to have multiple stompboxes running in parallel, and the built-in drum synth is quite poor--it just loops some pretty plain beats with no switchups, and the beats don't sound like their titles (Blues just plain sucks).

SAME!

SAME!

UPDATE!
This is an update from my previous review just a few days ago. I have discovered the problem with the power outages. There is a short in the AC adapter. As I said bellow, I have used this thing allot. With that said it's amazing that the AC adapter lasted as long as it did. So chalk one up for Digitech. The only other problem that I haven't even noticed for a long time now was low sensitive pedal. Great product very dependable! :-)

UPDATE!
I was simply amazed at the super quick response I got after leaving my last review here on HC. Digitech is obviously very concerned with the reviews we leave here. If you read my last review, I mention my dissatisfaction with the trend effects processor companies have with utilizing smart media cards as apposed to SD (or even XD for that matter) technologies. Anyway, a guy from Digitech contacted me via email, like the day after I left the review, with a link that explained a way of using SD or XD cards or something like that. I honestly haven't even had time to read the article yet and I don't have a link to it right now. But I'll read it soon and post one more review with the link, so that you guys can all check it out. But the point is, Digitech has better customer support than I had originally rated them for. So I feel obligated to retract my original opinion. :-)

UPDATE!
You should buy one of these, especially since they're down to $399 now. :-)

Well, I've had this thing for a few years now. And I still don't know half of all it's capible of. I guess I just get a sound I like and then I stay with that for a while. I find it easy to get lots of great and useful tones out of this thing. Although I must say that I am really not using the amp modeling much at all these days, not that they're bad, I just have found better ways of getting cool amp tone. One of the ways of course is to just use a real amp. This is great when you have lots of head room (i.e. big room of people or outside), otherwise I use a Gi100 4 speaker cab simulater with a BD-2 and OD-3 for my drive. Anyway, the effects built into this GNX3 are really nice. And there are sooo many! ;-) I would give it a five because frankly this machine is very powerful and complecated. Which is really a good thing! But, I would have to give it a nine for real time use. Because once you have it set up the way you want it, it's really easy to use on stage! :-) So I give it a seven.

Great! Not excelent! But great! If you have the money to buy lots of expensive pedals to experiment around with and you don't mind carrying them all with you when you gig and seting them all up and making sure that they all have sufficient power, then maybe you need to do just that. Otherwise, the GNX is a great choice, allowing you to experiment with very close representations of those real pedals. The subtleties are what make guitar tone cool. And the gnx is great at that. But it is also wonderful at taking you to extremes. One thing I wish these multi-effects pedals would offer is mixing mutiple modulation effects (like a flange into a phaser) or a tremelo into a chorus, etc... And that's probably the biggest draw back when compairing to multiple pedals. But, for most usages, this pedal is quite useful. And the quality of sound is just GREAT! :-)

Every once in a while, I the unit seems to act like it has no power. This is very rare and it has never caused me not to be able to perform with it. I'm not sure what the problem is. But I seem to always get it running again when this does happen. Just as a note of how infrequent this happens, as I said before, I have owned this for several years now. And I've used it probably ninety-five percent of the time I play anywhere. And I've only had it cut out on me like two to three times, and never at a crucial time. But it is something to be aware of. I also have not kept up with the upgrades which is my fault. But since the thing works so well, I just don't see the need I guess. Also, one of the pedals when I first got the thing seemed a little insensitive and I would have to press it a little hard or a couple of times to get it to function. But, It seems to have gotton better of the years. :-)

The box and CDs that this thing originally came with were in a fire. So I called Digitech and they sent me the replacement CDs. I wouldn't say they are up to Dell standards, but not bad.

I've been playing regularly since March of 1992. I feel I am an adequate player with reasonable experience with effects. I like to do my own music and style. But I'm open to most anything. Right now I'm using an Ibanez "something". It has HB bridge, SC middle, HB neck, and a coil tap that controls both humbuckers. It's pretty nice. My effects are set up like this... BD-2 into GNX3 left out into mini mixer, right out into old Korg AX1-G into mini mixer, then out of mini mixer into OD-1 into Fender 59' Bassman RI. One thing I didn't mention is the built in eight-track recorder. I really haven't used it that much. But one thing I would deffinately prefer. And that is the implementation of SD-cards instead of smart media. What where they thinking? And the funny thing is I still keep seeing smart media being used in other devices. and so the following message is for all digital effects manufactuers... Please stop using the inferior technology! SD-cards are MUCH better! And don't teel me they're not fast enough. I have a digital camara that records audio and video in REAL time onto an SD-card. Anyway, if my GNX was stolen, I would be pissed. But I might try a Boss ME-50, or that new Vox pedal, only because I like to experiment so much. But I know I would really miss the GNX. It is very useful.