DigiTech GSP-21 Pro

I always thought it was easy enough to use. The presets provide a measure of instant gratification, as the pros who designed some of the presets did some of the work for you. But even when you try to play with the presets yourself, it isn't terribly difficult- most of the effects toggle between "off" and "on," and when you get to an EQ you can move the sliders up and down by pressing (surprise) the up or down button. Figuring out the patches on the footswitch takes a second, but I found I tended to punch in the numbers of the programs I liked anyway. The biggest frustration with using this unit was just trying to isolate single effects- it's hard to use this as just a chorus pedal or just a delay pedal. So beware- if you are buying this because you think it's ten stompboxes in one, think twice- it's not quite so easy to separate one effect from another.

After spending a fair amount of money on this thing early in my playing career, I found that I had less and less fun with it the older I got and the more I realized that I should have spent the extra bucks on a better amp and a few stompboxes. The distortions are almost all disappointing, and although the delay and flange are as good as any other digital delay or flange, you could probably do better just buying a $100 stompbox. Plus, running through a 1x12 combo amp, the whole thing sounded really muddy, even when I tried to neutralize the amp EQ.

Well, in between lengthy stays in a closet in my parents' house, it seems to still be ticking every time I pick it up and try to monkey with it again.

Never really interacted with Digitech...

This is a fun toy, but I honestly think that in the process of trying to do lots of things at once, it doesn't do any of them particularly well. If you are truly a bedroom noodler, you might have a lot of fun playing through the settings, creating your own programs, enjoying some of the more ethereal presets ("the abyss" was always my favorite) and just generally making strange noises. But I couldn't really see this being of too much use onstage. In fact, after a few years of trying to play this thing every day, I found myself wanting to eschew effects entirely and plug directly into my amp. After a few years I was ready to at least use a wah pedal again.

One thing that is important to have is the manual. I had gotten mine used and it didn't have one, so it took me about a year to figure out how to alter patches. Mine has the Legend upgrade in it and I think it has 239 presets. This unit takes a whole lot of tweaking to get the sound just right. One thing I don't like is that all the presets have different volume levels. Also, I have to keep watching if the "Headroom level Overflows" (the little db graph thingy). I'm giving this a 7 cause I'm too much of a dumbass to get a manual.

Here is my "pawn shop" setup: Hondo Fame Series 760--->Dunlop Crybaby--->GSP 21 Pro--->A Really Crappy Practice Amp. This thing makes my guitar sound a lot better. The distortions and the chorus are great in my opion. Some of the presets are a little weak but if you want to make it sound better just do some tweaking. I'm still trying to figure out the EQ so if someone could email me and give me some help on that I would appreciate it.

I bought this at a pawn shop a couple of years ago and it has held up very well. The production sticker on it says Dec '91 and it looks like it has taken a beating. One problem that I have had with it is that a couple of the buttons are sticky. Also, sometimes when i plug into it I get a very loud buzzing sound. I have to wiggle the cabel around while it is in the input to make it go away. I think it is a loose connection or something but if you have an idea and how to get it fixed please email me.

I emailed them to find a manual for this and a couple hours later they emailed me back and told me where to get one. I would have to pay $5 to get it but I didn't cause I am very cheap.

I play metal, punk and rock and this suits me very well. If this had gotten stolen or lost I buy a couple of stomp boxes cause this just thing takes too much tweaking, and at the price I got it for I could afford it if it had gotten lost.

Easy of use was easy I have had a lot of digitech products before. A manual helps undirected people.

If It didn't sound good why would i even rate it??? I feel the distortions are better on other effects made by digitech..but the is something about the 21's distortion that through my JCM-2000 Head just makes my sound full and rich...My Dying Bride sounds or any heavy slow stuff ala..MORGION or Season Of Mourning

I would always reccomend an extra Fuse for it and change the battery when you first get it just in case my friends.....

sorrry never needed it but i have dealt with Harman Co before they are the greatest.....

I play Heavy Gothic Metal and require both Harse raspy nordic slugg as well as Clean prestine overtones like Pink Floyd..The blue sounds that you can get from the Pro are just awsome too....

Took 3-month's to program the unit to my liking...now i own 3 of them...Killer sound and effects,Especially stereo effects...I run this
stereo into a qsc usa 370(110 watts@8-ohm/side)to two ada halfstacks(2-12inch per cab,celestions,cab rated 100watts).. I've had this rig for years..Always have the same sound due to the fact of having 3-of them.. Keeping all the patches safe at home installed via midi to the back up units...I'll never loose the sound i have!!

All you do is find a killer setting and copy that setting w/the desired effects....The way i've got it set it's clean as can be and real nasty when i want it...Again,i'm running it into a pwr amp, Not a guitar amp which will have more of a coloring effect..The only coloring i get is from the celestions,which is a good thing!

There is a problem w/patch changing on the fly...There's a dead spot in between patches.This can be easly solved by using the effects loop...I've got a rackmount digital delay in the effects loop set to 10ms delay totally wet,Using the output gain,i blend the uninteruppted, slightly delayed signal in w/the regular signal and surprise,no more dead spot between patches!

Only once did it almost fail me..It was due to the battery backup not being replaced..It lost the patches on the pwr up....Went home and got backup unit,gig was fine...Replaced the battery,Downloaded the patches and it was fine...Once in 10 years! Be delicate w/cables and plug ends..They are not that tough,Although i've had no problem w/cables(knock on wood)...YOU MUST USE A SURGE PROTECTOR FOR AC INPUT!! Either that or make sure you have spare fuse around all the time..It popped once due to unstable pwr.(house ac,washer starting-stopping,freezer units,etc) Have not had a problem since i used the ISOBAR...

Needed fuse. Sent it free,Got it few days later w/extra ones!!

We play stuff from 60S to 2001 rock and roll to metal to dance..
This unit has done it all for me(due to the fact i programmed it exactly to my liking) I use mostly gibsons,studio lp w/dimazio super dist,L6-S W/DIMARZIO SD'S,Also epiphone coronet w/dimarzio sd's too...Guaranteed a consistant sound!
Wish it had whammy or pitch built in.

Well, not that easy to edit but over time you get the hang of it. I have the manual. It's ok i guess.

Well, the sound is OK but lacks in all areas. The clean is not too good and the distortion is also not that good either. I have had this thing since it came out back in 90' sometime. I use it for a back up now. I use a GFX-8 now and blows this thing away.

Yes it is reliable.

Yes i have dealt with them. The unit went out and had to send it back to them. They put the pro chip in it for free.

Not bad for a 12 year old piece of equiptment...

this unit will take a little time to get use to especially if you don't have a manual. the sound is a bit too digital for me however the compression is probably the best effect. still trying to figure out how to use my boss metalzone and take advantage of the racks compression. Anyone with any ideas please let me know how.

i use a gibson with a fender deluxe 85 amp and the unit sounds pretty decent. going through the eq gets to be annoying but sounds ok. clean patches sound great.

had the unit for about 10 years. it is fact durable.

never dealt with the company

please if someone could tell me if this unit can be used with pedals please let me know. i would like to use by boss distortion pedal in combination with the GSP'S compression but not quite sure how to do it. Do i turn off all effects and leave the compression on? the way i play it know i go from guitar to input on the front of gsp and from output in the back to input in my amp? any comments would be more than helpful. thanx

I at first had a very difficult time figuring how everything worked as it didn't have a manual. (I'm still trying to find one by the way)Once I fooled with it for a few practices I found it easy to use. I must note that my model was 11 years old at the time of purchase (Sep '01) and it amazed me that Digitech still had the footboard for it, and shipped it to the local MARS within 2 weeks of order! Once I had the footcontroller it was extremly easy to use. I would have given it a 10 but once again I had no manual or footcontroller when I first bought it.

As far as sound, I found that ping noise I keep hearing about in a hurry on the high gain settings. If I had the manual could I have corrected this problem faster than the 3 days it took to eliminate this? I also keep reading gripes about the gain/distortion displeasures. ? I haven't had any trouble. Sounds great.

Mine is 11 years old. The production sticker on it says Dec '90. Nuff said.

Digitech send my footcontroller out fast! But it cost me 210 bucks after MARS got their end. Bummer. But I only paid $100 for the processer itself so I'm still ahead.

Overall I think it dominates any other processer i've seen. Several other local guys in the scene have commented favorably on my tone and have offered to take the GSP-21 off my hands. No deal. It's like having 10 different heads (I can mimic any rig i've ever heard easily)and half a dozen stomp boxes in one unit. Cost effective and one stomp away from switching multiple effects. You just can't beat it.

the factory presets seem awesome enough, easy to edit.just arrow left then up or down. pressstore simple

has awesome abilities to get the sound you want.i can muddy it up or make it crisp, and has a great crunch

only problem i have ever had is the onboard memory battery.
but picked up another at radioshack and its been on top since.
have had it since 91 (when it was first created) bought the vs101upgrade chip in 92

never needed

doingsabbath style rock

Presets are just a starting point for my own edting. I've got great sounds when used with my twin 100 Watt Marshall heads and 4 x 12 cabs

I use all my own sounds (play in a classic rock band) from Pink Floyd to Aerosmith. Use the amps for power and the GSP for coloring.

I've used it for live gigging for the last 10 years. I take a spare fuse and backup battery in my kit bag but haven't used them yet!

Bought the unit 2nd hand and phoned the Co. for the users manual. I had it in 5 days - free!

Play in a classic rock cover band. Cover bands like Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Ozzy, ....
Been playing for a long time . I'm 39 now. I use 2 100 Watt Marshall heads + 2 4/12 cabs and run the GSP 21 stereo. I have an Ibanez SV Elec. Guitar and a Takamine Acoustic. Always get very good comments on the guitar sound everywhere we play. (band is 3 piece + vocals). I have had this particular setup for the last 10 years and nothing has come up to make me want to replace it yet!
I love jammin with this unit.

it took me about 2 months to figure out how to work the entire unit. it isn't the type of unit that you just turn all the knobs until it sounds good.

the setup i was first using was some cort P.O.S. that i got at a pawn shop. im not sure what type of amp it is, but i got that at a pawn shop too. in fact, i also got the processor at a pawn shop. the guitar sounded like shit when it was only plugged into the amp, but when i used the processor, it sounded a lot better. there are about 240 different effects on the one i got so you could probably find one that sounds like your favorite artist.

hell yes the thing is dependable.

never dealt w/ them

i play many different types of music ranging from the clash to primus, so there has to be a certain effect on there that fits you. the thing i love about it is you can change the effects/patches around. i dont have a wah pedal, so i made a patch that almost sounds like one