DigiTech GSP-2101

I bought this processor in 1995 along with the Control One foot controller. A few years later I upgraded to the Artist version with dual S disc processing. Much better in terms of processing power after the upgrade! Easy? well, not really. The manual is pretty good but the engineers who designed this; in my opinion, were way ahead of the game. After almost six years I am still doing different things with it and still learning. I have used this processor in a lot of different configurations:
1) As a primary pre amp/processor with a Marshall 9200 power amp through Marshall 1960 A and B cabs with G12T75's. Not bad, but not the real deal in terms of smoldering tone and dynamics.
2) Then, I ran a Mesa Boogie TriAxis Pre and used the 2101 as my Midi controller and effects processor. Better, but needed a buffered line to maintain tonal integredy.
3)Now I run a Mesa Boogie TriAxis for Fender/Mesa type tones and I run a Soldano X-99 Pre for the tone that only Soldano can produce. I can't say enough about the X-99. Incredible! I run my signal through the buffered line of the Digital Music Corp GSX audio switcher with all pre amps and reverb looped in mono series into the GSP 2101 input. Also read the MvH review below! This guy knows where it's at! The 2101 is where I split my Signal and adjust the effects, which can be run in series/parallel/left/right or any other way you can dream up. The signal then enters a Mesa Boogie Simul Class 2:90 with Philips 7851A tubes which is controlled by the TriAxis in terms of Smart Switching, then into Marshall 1960 cabs split loaded with 2 G12T75's and 2 Celestion V30's. Fasten your seat belts please! I am not a big effects fan, but the programing options are infinite. Really!
I can run through the Soldano, Triaxis, or the Digitech Pre; or any/all for that matter. But I mainly use the 2101 as the effects processor between analog pre's and power amp. The 2101 can be controlled by the Control One foot switch as either parameter On/Off, expression pedal control, or both. I control all of the pre amps with the Midi out of the 2101 in banks and I control the GSX audio switcher with a Ground effects foot controller. So far I am very happy with my sound and versatility in programing options. I really doubt I could top this set up with anything else, especially for the money. I don't use the Reverb from the 2101, I have a Soldano Surf Box looped into the GSX and I can control it with it's own peddle which has a true bypass. The 2101 is selling now for around $450 with the Control One. For live sets this thing rocks! It just takes some thinking and tweaking to get what you want out of it, but believe me it's all there! and it work flawlessly! I think in a studio I would maybe want a better A/D-D/A coversion or just go analog. But again I really only use a touch of effects for widening and coloring the tone.. I will give the 2101 with the dual S upgrade, for the price it is going for used, the incredible programability, and the great sound a 100. A bit more than 10 I know but I really believe in this unit.

Well, I already explained my set up. No Noise, Except the real high gain settings. I really like the Solid State distortion on the 2101. It nails the Randy Rohodes tone with absolute ease! The Cry baby/waa waa peddle sucks! I have an original Dulap I run before the Pre amp and it screams. So who cares. The pitch shift, chorus, delay, flange, etc. all 15,000 of them are great, I only know how I do things and for me it only takes a touch to change the sound. To much sounds processed. I don't care if you are using a $2 million dollar effects processor designed by NASA! I like to hear the guitar, in stereo, true wood tone, loud, wide, and tight! I can't say enough about this unit in all honesty. Go out and pay $70-$300 for individual effects and plug them in series. That is all you will ever have. What are you going to do in between sets? unplug them and change the configuration to get a particular sound? For the money this thing is Holy!

O.K. it did fail on me once, and It was out of warranty. the foot peddle stopped working. It may have been my fault though. You can not unplug the foot control when the unit is on or it will short out the midi foot control in. This might of happen to me on accident. I sent it in and paid like $75.00 plus shipping. It was returned in about 1.5 weeks. They were great! No big deal!

I keep getting ahead of myself. I am impressed with Harmon International. They were very knowlegable and helpful. Fast turn around on repairs. Hey, let's face it. Electronics do fail! Especially when your girl friend is vacuuming while you are playing, runs over the cord and unplugs the foot controller while the unit is on. How annoying!

As in everything, I'm sure there are those out there who think this thing is either the bomb, mediocre, or flat out junk. It does take a lot of time to figure out and memorize how to do the programing, the midi mapping, the banking, and the parameter configuration. But once you get it, you'll realize that this thing was designed by individuals who had to have had IQ's far greater than the average genious. It is intensely large and if you don't have patients? Forget it! I really love this processor. It has served me well, and it sounds fantastic. I have gone into the Guitar Center an played through a lot of different stomp boxes, processors, amps, guitars. Hey, it's all good! but I have yet to play though a rig as versitile and out right tone churning as mine. In my opinion this Processor is fantastic! if you have any questions or possitive comments/suggestion, feel free to contact me. NO SPAM please! thanks.

I've played with unit since the time when it hit the market. I'm a real tech head and upgrade gear as fast as I can but i just can't seem to get rid of this thing. It's a bit of a pain to program and it lacks some features that i would really like to see (the ability to slave a delay to an envelope as well as others). I use this unit as the lead piece of my live rig and my only complaint about it's live usage is that the signal drops out when you switch patches. The manual is pretty nice although it does not help much in the midi department.

I use this item with a couple of Ibanez iceman guitars. It is run through a carvin stereo EQ into a mosvalve stereo power amp. The noise gate is a little restrictive and some of the factory presets are only good if you play in a steely dan cover band, but All the digital aspects really smoke.

This piece of gear is a horse. I've used it non-stop since the day i bought it. It's been dropped a few times and continues to function perfectly. Before i got this item i had a Quadraverb GT and its internal battery went out six months after i bought it. I lost all my programs and then had to re-initialize it everytime i turned it on. yet The digitech just keeps on going. the s-disc storage is pretty convenient.

OK i had some bad experiences with these clowns. I made several calls to the service department and spent lots of time gettting disconnected and transferred in circles. It seemed no one at the company was qualified to answer my questions about conecting this unit with my other midi gear. I eventually had to drive 150 miles to talk in person to a guy who was a midi systems analyst and he finally answered my questions.

I play in several different bands. one is a Modern Black metal band, another a country/punk band and the other is an ambient/space music outfit. This unit plays to all those(with quite a bit of tweakage. If i lost this item I would probably buy something made in the last couple of years, the features have really come a long way recently.

Sounds that come preset require tweaking - especially the Noise Gate which is particularly annoying and short. Not very much exciting in the "Clean Dept"

Generally the sounds are Top-Class - especially the delays and reverb. I used to play live through this machine straight into the desk although I have since gone back to a Marshall 6101 valve amp. It was a bit noisy!

I have used it for nearly three years - any damage has been me being carless - e.g. I dropped the lid off the flight case which neatly amputated the on-off switch!!!!

I have used it for Rock and Brit-pop stuff and it has passed with flying colours. If it was lost now - I think I would look for something more modern. I would die if I lost some of the patches that I have created. I wish I had a more intelligent Pitch shifting but I believe that this is available on later models. The instructions for linking it to the Foot Controller 1 are poor.

I bought this not to long ago, from a music store. It is in good shape, and looks nice. And it sound's Really Good! It's not to hard to learn how to use. Just a lot to do to program it. The manual is rather large. You'll have to do your home work, but it's fun.

There are many good effects to use. I use it for Guitar and for singing thru. I record to my computer with Magix recording studio, it's great, i love it. I can make really professional sounding recordings. All the crap in this thing is cool. Good Effects. Better than cheap dod or boss pedals etc.... I really like the reverb in this GSP it can get you a good Super Reverb type Reverb. I think the Preamp Tubes give it a nice tone as well. You can be really creative with this GSP.

I guess. I hope so.

I got an email from digitech pretty fast. I think it was about a day or two?

I've been play for a long time. I play a delta blues tube amp peavey.
A Srat. Rock, Blues, Moder Rock. I think it does a good job. I dont Gig. I just record at home and play with friends every once in a while. If you want SRV tones buy a fulldrive 2 or tubescreamer, and mic your stuff to record. I really like the 2101, It does a good job.

***** This is an update of a previous review. I now use the GSP2101 only for fx and it really changed my view. ******

Everything is easy to use, good manual, full controll over every parameter.

Previously I used the 2101 as a preamp and fx proc. and really disliked the tube sounds. They sound really digital and lifeless. But I've bought a Mesa Boogie Quad preamp (8x ECC83 tubes = real tube sound) which sounds amazing!! This is what tube sounds are all about. So I now use the 2101 only as an effect machine (in the tube fx loop of Quad preamp) and it does a mighty fine job. If you set all eq (incl. the overall eq) flat and only use the dry sound, there is all most no difference with using nothing in the fxloop. So that's very good. Because I know only add the digital fx's to my sound my turning up the dry-wet mixer and my sound stays very true.

One of the best things this machine has (like non other) is that you can fully program all it. If you want 8 EQ's in a row, you just built one. ANYTHING is possible. With Rocktron stuff you loose parameter controll when using more effects together (like chorus and reverb), not with this machine!. I still think this is one of the best machine's digitech ever made.

Down sides:
The silence when switching presets. You can run arround them by using all midi posibilities, but it would've been nice if this was solved.
And if you use it as an preamp, the tube section is quite weak, compared to tube real (pre)amps.

But if you use it together with a good tube preamp, I think you have one of the best fx machines around.

They can be a pain in the ass. I've been using Digitech stuff for about 8 years now and if they work good, then they're the best. But they tend to fuck up once in while. And that's not funny at all.

I gave it an 8, because of the full controll over the parameters, the true sound when using it as just an fx machine, good sounding fx's. Down sides are the tube section and it tends to get fucked up once in while. But still one of the best sounding fx machines. Just don't use it as a preamp. They should have sold it as a fx machine, not a combination with a preamp.

MvH
www.vanhelden.demon.nl/gear

I have owned for about 4 yrs now, and still don't know everything. The owners manual wasn't very helpful with setting up foot controller, and had to read twice for everything else. I think that I am pretty good at understanding directions too.I didn't use any of the original patches, to me they sounded sterile. I did upgrade to dual s-processing (2112) which at least allowed for more chained effects.

first I had 2101>Hafler G300>marshall cabs 75w Celestions. Then I bought Marshall 9200 w 5881s (sound was starting to come around) Then I found the Mesa/Boggie Tri-axis. I got tired of programing, and serching for something that just wasn't there. It took me away from what it is all about! PLAYING! Don't take this wrong, the 2101 is a great unit, but to me it's not the real thing. Pure analog is the ONLY way to go. If I'm going to use digital effects I want the effect to be transparent. These A/D D/A converters just don't cut it! It is more than obviouse when I run the Tri-axis through effects return and then into amp (one effected channel,one dry) My amp now is a M/B Simulclass 2-90. I do like the Grunge distortion though, it sounds alot like Randy Rhoads, with midrange scoop.

My foot controller did go out on me, and I did send it in. It cost me around $150 for repairs. They were pretty friendly and the turn around was reasonable.

As stated above

Well, I think for some this might be the "Cats Meow", but for me I out grew it. I play on a PRS Custom 22, Fender American Deluxe w/Maple neck and Texas Specials through Mesa/Boggie and Marshall cabs. This just can't be touched. The sensativity of the strings is not comparable, the sound is far better, and I get to play without the hassle of changing the programs because I can't get what I want. If I were just starting out and looking for something, I would just get Marshall 2000 series combo amp. Like 60w. and build from there. or Mesa/Boogie rectifier combo. That way you already have your tone quality. and you will not outgrow, you will grow into. I wish someone would of told me that. I would of saved myself a LOT of time and money!!! Then later You can get an effects procesor than has high quality A/D D/A converters, like T.C. electronics. All this for the same cost of 2101-2120>Amplifier>speaker cabs. If your allready running a Combo or head you waisting your cash!

I've owned this prossessor for a little over three years and belived that you had to be a mad rocket scientist to figure out how to use this thing. After a few months I got used to it inside and out and made some of the best sounds I've ever heard from my rig. All and all it does take some time and tweaking, but have the patience and you shall be happier than a little school girl.

I use the Digitech 2101 (Artist) going through a Marshall 8008 stereo power amp into two 4x12 Marshall Valvestate cabs (they fit in your trunk better). The 2101 is a clean, quiet unit that once again with a little tweaking can blow your head off with tone that you can get out of this single rack. Every effect in it tonally sounds excellent but I don't recommend that the vintage player looking for that old fender twin tone purchase this any time soon. I play many different guitars through the unit and each one sounds like it should. You still can tell which guitar you have in your hand when playing through this unit.

I have had no problems with the unit that is out of the ordinary, besides dirty jacks and that sort of thing. I've used it as my main rig for as long as I've had it and feel that it's very reliable. If you take care of your things you seldom have any problems with them.

I've never had any work or upgrades done to it but I have delt with the company regarding other products. They are a bit slow with information but you can expect that.

I would cry if it ever got stolen or dammaged, and then probably buy the 2120. I love this unit because it does everything I need it for from Hard Metal tones to Blues. I use it all the time, make my own patches everyday, and it still kicks as much as it did the day I heard it for the first time. I shouldn't really give this away but a small secret in my rig that took the tone of the 2101 and kicked it into the next century was the BBE 362 Sonic Maximizer. It takes your highs and lows that are already there and cleans and tightens them right up to the point where it is quite a difference. I recommend this unit to all that is cool!!

My goal with this review is to be point-blank honest in this review. I love this unit, but I will point out its flaws just as clearly as its good points.

The 2101's ease of use depends on your experience w/ programable units, and/or if you are willing to learn. If you're used to creating your own patches/algorithms and are slightly tech minded or have a desire to learn, it's cake. If you hard-headed and stuborn about tech stuff and just want to plug and play or are a self-proclaimed "knob-twister" and are not willing to devote any more time to your sound than a twist of a knob, this is probably not the processor for you.

Here's the grain of salt to take my opinions with. I have been playing the guitar for almost 23 years now, and I have made my living at it for 11 of those. I am rating this as an EFFECTS PROCESSOR, NOT A PRE-AMP. IMHO, the distortion sounds on this unit (as with almost all digitech gear) really blow. They are sloppy, thin, and lazer-like (not in a good way). The clean/semi-clean sounds are just okay - no brilliance (ie: not going to touch a Fender Twin, etc). I am a firm believer that tone is derived in the pre-amp section of the amp, and, no matter what it says on the face of this unit, it is not a true dedicated "pre-amp", it is an effects processor.

Whew, glad that's out of the way. I have the 2101LE w/ the dual s-disk and Artist upgrades. I do use the C1 and the usual guitars (Fender, Gibson, Gretsch) in a rig with a Mesa TriAxis, 2:90, and assorted cabs. I actually prefer to drive midi with the C1 and midi control in the 2101 over the Mesa Abacus. With some tweaking, it is amazing. I have used this rig in the studio many times and it has credit on at least one current top 40 hit (as of Sept. 99). Some producers actually have preferred it over Matchless, Vox, Fender, and Marshall rigs that I have, and specifically request it on certain sessions. It is extremely versital, easily programmed, and gives me "total recall" and archiving ability. If I find a sound that a certain producer of artist likes, I archive it on my computer and load it back in before any sessions/ gigs with that producer/artist. It has become a part of the rig that I use almost exclusively for live gigs and I LOVE it. The compressor is a smack-machine. It has unbelievable pop to it. Which is perfect for country and funk.

Once again this rating is as an EFFECTS PROCESSOR AND MIDI CONTROLLER, NOT A PRE-AMP.

I do have a back up simply because of digitech's less-than-pristine track record, but I have never had to use it...better safe than sorry.

Never dealt with them.

I play all kinds of music -- mostly Rock, some Jazz, some A/C, and as little country as possible (and still make the car payment - in Nashville) although my primary gig is a "new country - 80's rock" kind of thing. Granted, I have almost 5 years of programming this beast under my belt, but there is not a fully-programable guitar EFFECTS processor that can touch it. Once you make it over the worst of the learning curve, it's really quick and user friendly. I have played the new 2112/2120 and was extremely disapointed in how many features they have changed...Digitech really screwed things up with their "up-grades" to the 12 and 20. I guess everyone's catering to the "plug and play" bozos.

Because of endorsement hassles, I cannot officially endorse this product with my name. But I am on the road a lot and would be happy to answer an questions I can at my generic hotmail account.

The factory presets tend to be too wet for use in band context. They need to be cleaned up a bit, but they make for a good starting point to work from. There are so many parameters to tweak that it can be overwealming at first. Fx chemistry is both a science and an art. Some people have a knack for it. The rest of us just have to keep trying until it starts to make sense. This is a good unit to start with if you don't mind jumping in feet first and learning how to swim in the deep end.
If you are unfamiliar with electronic gadetry, the learning curve can be quite steep. The manual wasn't real helpful to me. it's very detailed and not always clear. Plus, they complicated things by including technical info on the different fx do that didn't make much sense to me. There were some things that I never did quite figure out ie assingning the footswitch to control various parameters.

My guitar signal always went direct to the 2101. From there I sent a signal from the back directly to the sound board. That always sounded good. I've used various guitar amps to monitor my own signal on stage. The 2101 sounded good through a Fender Twin. It sounded so good with that that I used to put a mike in front of the amp and feed that to the board. I eventually unloaded the Twin becasue it was just too large and heavy to haul around anymore. it was more than I needed for a monitor. after that, I used a Peavy Bandit and/or a Marshall Valvestate. they sounded OK, but nothing like the Twin. I always fed my signal direct to the board from the back of the 2101 after that. The bonus of the twosolid state amps is that sometimes I could go stereo. Stereo is really where the 2101 shines in my opinion. Unfortunately, I am not always able to send a stereo signal over the PA system so the audience could enjoy it.
The delay & chorus are excellent. There are also a number of other fx that are very good - too numerous to mention. The 2101 pretty much has it all. That's why I got it in the first place. The tremelo and the wha suck. There are six types of distortion to choose....3 solid state and 3 tube. The solid state such and the tube ones were ok. I was playing an American Strat with stock pickups which are low gain. That is a factor to consider when I say that I was never very pleased with the 2101 distortion. I was about to upgrade my Strat pickups to stacked humbuckers when it got stolen along with the 2101.
I'd like to thank the people who stole my GSP 2101. I ended up getting a Roland VG-8EX with the insurance $$ and I feel that I have stepped forward about ten steps. Thanks, whoever you are. I've got comments on the VG-8EX here in the Effects Database if you're interested.

I never had problems with it. I protected my investment with an SKB rack case and still handled it with care. I suppose there is always the risk of problems simply because there is so much packed into the casing. I was fortunate I guess.

I phoned the company for help in interpreting the manual once. Long distance. I was on the phone for at least 15 minutes with a tech as we tried to figure how to activate the wah on the footcontroller for a certain patch. I dont recall if we ever did figure it out. I can't say I was too impressed although the tech certainly did try hard. the phone call cost me.

Christian praise and worship. I've got to be versatile as we play a wide variety of styles. Christan music isn't just Mabel on the organ anymore. The 2101 was very useful to me for the five years that I had it. I was able to craft tones that fit pretty much was going on at the time. But like I say, I don't miss it a bit. I'm glad someone removed it for me. The Roland VG-8EX does as much and more.

One's you've learned it, it's far easier than 2120. Pretty simple but very easy and effectieve.

The distortion sound are quite pour. The lack of sensitivity and dynamics. Most digital amps sound like that, and compared to others it's not bad, but certainly not analog (read dynamic !). I use the compressor, volume knob and a lot of EQ's to get a good sound. It is possible, but it's really hard to get an good "clean" suntainfull distortion with the hisses and pour soundquality. Although I use premium tubes (Mesa Boogie, Groove Tubes) it doesn't get much better. Chorus and Pitchshifter are week too, but not bad at all. Overal the sound is pretty good and you can really make your own sound so that's really cool, realtime effect controll is 100 % cool. Just wished the tubes sounded more realistic.
I play on a Les Paul and a Ibanez Universe 7 (7string VAI) trough a VOX Wah (really good) into the digitech. XLR out puts with speaker compansation to a Behringer Ultrafex (enhancer/exciter, really good) to a Mesa Boogie Simul Class 395 (2x90 all tube "from heaven" power amp, Marshall is nothing compaired to this) to an Marshall 1960 4x12".

Depends. When it starts to fuck, it really starts to fuck and it can get you in a lot of trouble for a long time. But if it runs o.k., you're lucky and happy, because then it works good. But I just had a lot of trouble with Digitech stuff over the years. But it should say enough that I still want to use them, over a lot of other brands.

Don't know. I live in Europe, so no telling.

Good machine, with a lot of endless possibilities, which is really great. EQ section is unmissable, and really good. I always use and extra EQ on every preset. To bad the machine sound a bit too digital and misses the dynamics of "real" tubes.