DigiTech GSP-2101

It's easy to get good sounds out of this thing. Editing patches is a bit of a chore, and really, too technical for me as a singer/songwriter/guitarist/recordist. I've edited some patches, but I had to have the manual in my face the whole time. If I spend a WHOLE lotta time studying the manual and doing a lot of patch editing or originating, I'm sure I'd get good at it. But, as probably most guitaritst would say "I just want to hit a switch or turn a knob and be there". Which, you can do with this unit. The manual is very good, but that doesn't make editing the patches easier. 2 months after I bought this pre-amp, the $247 I then paid for the Foot Controller (FC) was money well spent, though you really have to spend some time learning how to use it. My unit was upgraded when I sent the FC and the pre-amp in for warranty repairs just after I bought the FC.

Check out my other reviews.."Dr. Sound Good". I've played guitar for 41 years. I play a 1994 Fender Eric Clapton signature stratocaster, a 1976 standard strat, 1976 Les Paul Custom, but mostly played my 1990 Gibson ES-335 through it, 2008 Epiphone Gold Top '56 Reissue, mostly blues/rock stuff. Also play Takamine and Esteban acoustic guitars with pickups through it. I have piles of gear. Amps: 2 Marshall JCM 800 2210's, Fender Blacface & Silverface Princeton Reverbs, Fender '65 Twin Reverb Reissue, 2 Fender Silverface Vibro-Champs, Marshall Stereo 8008 Valvestate; This pre-amp is noisy on some of the patches, notably the heavy metal type ones. The effects always sound good, but you do have to either tweak them and save your tweaks, or know how to dial them in while playing live. There's a lot of disparate volume levels and tone differences between the many patches which make switching between them live very challenging. The patches for specific artists don't really sound like them if you ask me. There are some very sweet patches I use a lot. Also, I really think, as its name suggests, that this thing is best used in the studio. If you go direct from this unit to tape or disc when you're recording, this thing sounds like a million bucks. It's awkward using it live, but it does have some killer sounds. The sound from this thing IS tube and IS very lush, with a lot of depth. So when used with my Marshall valvestate power amp is sounds very good. Better through my tube amps, but very good through solid state amps.

I haven't used it a lot onstage, but it's been flawless when I have. In the past, I mostly used it for recording my song demos and for practice sessions. When you set this thing up in stereo and just sit down to play, you can spend many fun hours switching between the many patches. A smart player always has backup gear, but it's very reliable and can be used without backup.

A few months after I got the Foot Controller, it wasn't working right. I sent it and the pre-amp in for repairs under warranty, which they did, and it's been fine ever since. They upgraded it when they did the warranty repairs.

Other gear: A Crate PCMB 500 watt P.A. amp, a Carvin FET 401 monitor amp, Cerwin Vega 12" 2 way floor monitors, dbx 160 compressor, 2 Soundtech B2E 12" 2 way main speakers, Shure SM58 mics, Yamaha 4 track cassette deck, Marshall 8008 Stereo Valvestate Power Amp, a 1997 '65 Fender Twin Reverb Reissue tube amp, 1977 Fender Vibro-Champ tube amp, Mesa-Boogie V-twin tube pre-amp pedal and several Boss foot pedals.

This thing has to many parameters!!
Example noisegate has 7,reverb has 20 parameters!!
You got to lock yourself up and throw away the key and maybe after a day or 10 you understand this box.
Don,t get me wrong you get there but duuuuh!!
To compare a Rocktron Voodu Valve has a noisegate(hush) with just one parameter and it works ten times better than the oversized crapgate of the digitech.

The clean sounds are ok ,but don,t sound like a real amp ,they sound to proccesed.(factory presets are swimming in effects)
Offcourse you can backup the effects,but still clean sound stays
sterile.
Distortion(grunge etc) sounds are to overcompressed only the tube distortions sounds are ok.
Effects like chorus,delay and reverb are accepteble but not topnotch(like tc electronic or lexicon or rocktron).
A big minus is presetswitching there is a gap of a tend of a second but its enough to hear that gap.
When using a good tubepoweramp you can breath some live in this sterile sounding box.

Seams to be a sturdy box and built for the road(if you put it in a good flightcase)

Never dealt with them.

After dialing in some sounds with the tube and adjusting some eq it sounded acceptable but not like a good tubepre-amp or head with effects.
I used a VHT two/fifty/two and Rocktron Velocity poweramp connected to a speakercabinet with vintage celestions.
The only all in one box i ever used that sounded any good was the Rocktron Voodu Valve(or chameleon).
VooduValve beats Digitech,Line6,Boss and many other all in one solutions.
This thing is way to complicated and sounds sterile.

Programers and MIDI lovers will have no problem catching on to this unit. Knob turners will have a big learning curve.

Sounds can me down loaded from the net!
http://www.gsp2101.noisytoyz.com/

Still looking for the best. This is STILL at the top of my list. I have sold my JCM's, My Boogie Studio and Rectomfrier, my Rockmaster, Bogner, Gainiac, Tubeworks, Sansamp, Vox and VHT.
Listen to sounds here http://www.gsp2101.noisytoyz.com

9 until I find 10??? And all that for $300 used!

Note: If you plug it into crap power amps it will sound like crap.
Use a good GUITAR power amp not a PA amp. For example VHT, Boogie 2:90, Carvin T100, Marshall 9200, ADA B200S,Peavey 50/50, MOSVALVE etc.

Still going strong from 1996.

You can backup your sounds to the computer too.

I had a RP6 they send parts to me fast, but never needed work on the 2101.

My group plays so many differnt cover songs that this 2101 has been indespencible by having a tone library at my feet. Any tone in seconds.

Listen to my Van Halen patch at http://www.gsp2101.noisytoyz.com

I think certain sounds are great and don't need any tweaking at all. I had to turn the mids off on my amp, it was too punchy, not smooth, but I plan to get a power amp eventually. I don't have the manual yet but I remember how to edit pretty well, tho I never got into the hardcore editing process with the chain and EQ settings. Basic stock version, no upgrades.

I play retro 80's and Van Halen-Eric Johnson-metal and this unit out does ANY processor out there. I have had the boss GT series and the line 6 (too digital sounding) but this will NEVER be beat for what it does and how it sounds. It cost me $160 plus $130 for the foot pedal and let me say you get 6 more foot pedals on this rather than the chincy 4 with any others. You'd think line 6 and boss would step it up to the 90's at least! I use a '93 les paul with this thru a Peavey classic 50 head tube which is very clean and a line 6 cab with celestions for now, but want a real power amp and marshall at some point. Right now it will cut your head off and sounds sooooo pro, there really is a difference. If your playing blues, fenders are the deal, but with 80's metal and fusion that ain't gonna happen. There are sounds in here I still find. I highly suggest this unit, the clean sounds are so punchy! Where I used to use my volume control to get clean, now I can use a real clean patch that punches through the bass and drums in my band. The only bad side is certain distortion patches are programmed very low volume, and when you raise that, they get noisy. The efeects are amazing, I am don't need any pedals ever again, though I keep them for back up should this unit go down.

I will ALWAYS have back up gear, you are insane if you are in a working band without it.

repair was lengthy on my original unit, this is my second one.

I have been playing for 30 years and have used everything out there. I still want a 5150 and mesa but I had surgery on my left hand where 3 bones were removed which really slowed me down. my speed metal days are over so I just enjoy playing what I can now. I was using a boss metal zone 2, boss delay and super chorus with an mxr pahase 90 and fanger and I still like that set up but this is all that and much more. I HATE grunge and alternative and 'new' metal so those patches are horrible and worthless to me.It outdoes the line 6 podxt live but I didn't get to compare it to the boss gt before I sold it to get this, but I know those have more current sounds, not what I am looking for. I ultimately want Holdsworth tone, heavy sustain without distortion, any ideas?

I recently bought the 2101 on ebay . It sounds fantastic! It's pretty easy to follow the suggestions and directions that Digitech gives you in the manual.

I'm using a Jackson 7 string , a Roland GR-1 Guitar synthesizer,an Ibanez Dlx , and a Galveston clear plexiglas strat with the unit and all the guitars sound incredible. You could plug a plastic toy guitar into this processor and still get an unbelievable sound ! Right now I'm plugging straight into my cpu with a Midiland MX-2 speaker system and it still sounds great. I've also plugged it into a Carvin 100 watt 212 solid state amp, ran it thru the clean channel (of course) and the sound was awesome.

I've only had it for a couple of months but I've owned several Digitech processors and they've all sounded great and they were very reliable. I dont like the sound of the new Digitech processors that are out now, dont waste your money on them. Go for the 2101, 2112 , 2120 , RP-20, RP-14 , RP-7 or the chrome Valve FX rackmount. They all have 1 to 2 12AX7 preamp tubes in them and they all sound fantastic without tweaking the programs. I've owned the GSP-5, RP-50 & RP-80 (solid state pedals,they sound ok)the 2101 (my fav),the RP-7(awesome), the RP-12(solid state, sounds great)I trust them all. Any unit can break down on you if its not treated right no matter what brand name it is.

I was able to talk to an actual technician about changing the switches. I wasnt careful about making sure my shoes (and my friends shoes ;) )were clean when we stomped on the pedals and that allowed some dry mud and dirt to get into the switches. He was helpful with his advice on how to change them. It was a long 6-8 hour surgical process and I messed up one of the pedals so I would recommend sending the unit to them for servicing rather than attempting this yourself.

I've been playing for over 30 years. Started when I was 6 years old.I play rock, metal, classical, all styles pretty much to keep the fun in playing and to increase my understanding of music and my versatility. It covers all these styles and more perfectly. If it were stolen I would buy one of the favs I mentioned in the reliability part of the review. There are a few I have'nt owned like the 2112, 14, 20 , valvestateFX but basically the 2101 Artist version 3.0 in my opinion is the culmination of all these great Digitech effects processors so I'm really happy to have it.

I'll admit it's tough at first and you might feel like it's not that good, but if you're willing to tweak and put time into it there's no way you can be dissappointed.It will take you a long time to get a good sound but i feel like it was worh it.Definitely not for those of you that want an awesome tone from the start.

I use a parker fly deluxe into my preamp and from there into my qsc poweramp, then into a peavey 4x12 fullstack and it sounds awesome. I'm sure if i were to purchase something like a VHT 2/9/2 power amp it would sound incredible.The s-disc silencer is flawless once you find the right threshold setting for whatever you play.It offers absolute silence when you're not playing even without having to hold the strings.I keep my algorythms with a low pass filter and a slight chorus to fatten the tone slightly without compensating articulation.This amp is capable of getting absoluely any tone you could want if you're willing to work at it.I got the sound i wanted which is extremely heavey and clear.It has absolutely no flabbiness in the tone which of course is perfect for high speed riffing.By eq-ing a single algorythm i can get so many different sounds, and with the massive amount of eq options the possiblities are limitless.

It's fairly relaible with no serious problems since i've bought it(used).The only problem i have is at times when i switch to another channel the volume is for some reason much lower which is easily resolved by switching to another cannel and back again.Besides that it's trustworthy enough for a 16 yr old kid like myself, or anyone else for that matter that doesn't exactly have enough money for a "spare".

Never had to deal with them.

I play extreme progresive metal and as anyone might know i can't afford to have an amp that is either not heavey or clear enough.For something i paid almost nothing for it by far exedes the abilities of any other amp i have played.I've been playing for 3 years and i am absolutley obsessed with sound quality and playability.My current set up is all i own besides a Jackson Rhoads and a Peavey road master head.If this were stolen or lost there's no question that i'd buy another.The fact that i have created my own distinct sound that sets my tone apart from any other preamp is why i like it so much.The heaviness and clarity of this preamp by far makes up for any other flaws it might have.I've played through Marshalls, Boogie rectifiers,and Line6, and it's my personal opinion that i have found a better sound than any of those from my gsp 2101.The most important thing about this preamp is that it requires some time and brains to use properly which i don't mind considering the sound i've gotten out of it with such a simple set up.

This thing is not easy to use...it takes some serious time to figure it out. The whole idea of the mixers is stupid imo.

I use a stock ibanez rg-470. The power amp is a crate spa-200 and the cab is a carvin with gt12-8 spkers. Basically it is hard to get a good sound with this setup. Especially at playing volume. The poweramp gets nasty the louder it gets. It doesn't have smooth highs.

The version i have is 1.06.06 and it is glitchy as hell. I'll edit a patch and save it and then switch back to another and the volume and setting will be all skee-wad. Or i'll just get a big BOOM or something it is very annoying...but it is intermitent and olny happens on certain patches. I am going to be upgrading to the latest version so hopefully that helps.

You can get some cool sounds out of it IF you spend alot of time tweaking it and put the 15 band eq in every algorithim which doesn't leave rooom for much else.

HAHA this version i have is not to reliable...very glitchy

it's alright but a hassle to get good sounds from. Not to bad but you have to use a tube poweramp to smooth out the highs

this thing is really hard to figure out at first, but i managed to understand what i was doing by the end of the day. it takes a lot of fooling around, reading the manual, then repeating those 2 steps till you figure everything out. i still don't really understand the mixers, but theres enough patches for this unit all over the internet to get you going. Mine is an original 2101 model from 95' that has been fully upgraded with the 3.00.00a artist chip and second s-disk. once you get to know this thing editing becomes really easy.

im running an epiphone limted edition with stock pick ups to the 2101 to my home stereo system/mixing board to p.a/solid state combo amp/carvin t-100 stereo poweramp to 2x12 marshall cabinets. (no, its not all hooked up at the same time, these are just the alternate setups i have to use with this unit. first off, theres so many ways you can run this thing, i love it in stereo with stereo choruses, reverbs, and delays, panning back and forth, either automatically or with a sweep of the internal expression pedal. this unit has a great noise gate, it lets your notes sustain without cutting them off, and takes ot all the background noise, the unit is dead silent when your not playing. just make sure you have it set properly. i found all the effects to be very very good, i have no experience with lexicons or eventide type units, but i have no desire to want one of those units as this digitech is very satisfying. the only effect i dont like are the wah (i use a snarling dogs mold spore) and the whammy doesnt seem to sound good on settings where you set the pitch up, but it seems alright for lowering the pitch. the delays, reverbs, flangers, choruses, tremolos, detuners, phasers all sound amazing. now, alot of people tend to complain about the preamp section.....i dont understand why. i have groove tubes 12ax7's, and i love the preamp section, if you can think of a tone in your head, you can find it in this unit. I play tool, a perfect circle, opeth, smashing pumpkins, and my own stuff, and theres tones in here for all that stuff, well aslong as your running it trough a decent tube poweramp. going direct to board alters the your tone, but it still sounds good. the tube section is very warm and rich, and the 7 band eq is plenty. the compressor tightens everything up to, so its perfect for metal. the cabinet emulator doesn't sound that great, when i go direct to baord i prefer the sound of the 2101 without the emulator, but thats just me. all in all, i love this thing, and i wouldn't trade or sell it for anything.......except a diezel vh-4 with vht 4x12 cabinets, and a lexicon mpx-g2. but thats only if i had roadies, and a shitload of extra cash laying around. as of now i could not be more happy carrying just my guitar, 2101, and floorbaord to gigs and band practise.

like i said, its from '95, and i haven't had a problem with it, i would and do gig without a backup

i emailed them a couple times, and always had responses the day of or the next day

like i said before i play tool, opeth ect. ect. this is perfect for what id do, it has such a nice midrangy growl to it. ive been playing for about 7 years, and just recently have been getting better gear. i used to have and ada mp-1 with my carvin t-100 poweramp, and prior to that i had a marshall combo, with various boss effect pedals, and needless to say the only things i have left is the carvin, which i sometimes use with the 2101. oh yeah, i also had an rp 20, let me say a few things about that. first off the delay between switching patches was very annoying (the seamless patch changing on the 2101 is unbelievable) it only had one tube which made the saturated tube section sound very sterile, i always had to combine the tube and solid state distortions to get a full enough sound, the effects were great, the one theing i wish the 2101 had was the whammy from the rp20, but i dont use that often so its not a problem. and last but not least, it sounds like absolute SH** live. the nice full distortion tone ive been working on for so long with my solid state amp at home, sounded completly thin and quacky, and weak, and....well like sh** when going straight to board, ven with the cabinet emulator one. This was such a big factor for me because i don't like lugging a poweramp around to gigs, and i don't like lugging my cabs and poweramp to practise, if im not at home i go straight to board. This was also the main reason i took the 2101 over the 2120 or 2112, sinse the 2120/2112 are basically the rp20 x2, there was no way i was going to take thechance of having a horrible live tone again. if it were lost or stolen, i would definately look for another one, they go pretty cheap on ebay. the only thing i wish i could do with this is have it so i could choose on each patch whether the effects or preamp go first. right now it always has to be preamp - effects, but i like the sound of a flange dictating the distortion on milder distortion settings, and i can't do that unless i have a flanger in front of the unit. i just remembered another reason i chose this over the 2120/2112. with the 2120/2112 the effects loop goes before the preamp, which to me seems pretty useless, when you could just stick a pedal in front and have the same result, but with the 2101 the fx loop is after the preamp and prior the fx, which makes sense, because now you could have your favorite delay pedal, and put it in there after the distortion, or do what i want to do and throw a flanger before the distortion not using the loop. i think this thing is great for writhing your own stuff and finding your own sound aswell as playing covers with your favorite artist sound, the only way it gets in the way is when you first get it, you want to spend a lot of time tweaking instead of playing, but once you get all your sounds down to a tee and programmed your set. if you've been thinking about getting one, do yourself a favor and buy it, this is by far the best thing digitech has ever made.

The Digitech 2101 was a lucky break when I got it it was the first cool set up I ever owned and learned with. It once belonged to a close friend of mine. He was at a much different level of playing ability and music style then I. He was into smoth jazz and he told me that the presets sounds were awful for his style and to complicated, high maintenance. He now uses a Matchless DC 30 which is probably one of the best amps out there. Digital stuff is mostly for certain styles only. It works best for these styles. Example:Rock,metal, and wierd music for creative people that are searching for alot in a little computer bank called DIGITECH.
Its a pain until you get it down which took me forever. I don't understand much from the manual but if you're really in need of help and are willing to search for it, it will help you.
The Editing patches take alot of time and don't come easy to perfect. The one thing you don't want is to get to caught up in perfecting the sound to much. It's fun for you create and alter but it does'nt make you a better player if you're screwing around all the time.
My 2101 has not been upgraded. Does'nt need it.

I use the 2101 going into a korg tuner into 2 PA 1000 Watt Power Amplifiers going into 4 200 Watt Mesa Boogie cabinets with a shure UHF wireless system transmitted to a PRS bolt-on double humbucker guitar[great for metal rock], a Ibanez AX custom 4-string proto-type guitar, and a Ibanez AXR 7 string also double humbucker.
All the tones have a turn on turn off switch for the gate and it cuts of almost imediately after you stop playing pending on the tone. Distorted sounds cut off nicely but there usually is a slight static sound that rings out for about half a second.Pending on the level of distort.
Clean and dry tones cut off instantly but sustain well, its amazing.
All trippy sounds with chorus,reverb,phase etc. cut of when the effect has drained out.
All effects have there own special quality. Some I dont even bother with but you can make some great tones.
If you expeiriment with tone enough you can get everything just the way you like it,but it takes time.
I get great sound for stuff that is heavy limp Bizkit Pantera style stuff thats what I mostly play. Incubus,Metallica,Korn,Rage against the machine, Eric Johnson,Stevie Vai,Robben Ford,Wayne Krantz, Gun's and roses,Larry Carlton,Deftones, Nirivana and other various heavy artists tones can be found in the 2101. Lots of basic cool songs can be covered in this computer box.
All tones can be great if you use them correctly and are fun to mess with. There are alot of different types of distortion and not enough clean tones.
I feel the one hitch to this whole thing is that you don't get the true tube sound quality that you might get from tube amps.

So far for all the gigs I have performed it has'nt exploded on me. You here horrer stories about this knid of stuff but if you know how to work it you'll be able to sleep at night.When I travel on the road it never has died I just make sure to tell anyone who handles it to be careful.
This amp is pretty trust worthy if you have a good idea of what to do in a crisis situation. I have a compact back up but don't bring it along much. I trust my 2101. NOTE: IT IS FRAGILE.

I called once for a reset because it was gliching. It turns out the glich came from a nickel sized battery that needed a change after about 6 years of constant use.
The company walked me through as I hoped. They really knew just what to do. Within hours I was back on track with my favorite tones.

I play rapish hip hopish thrash punk metal. It a controversal style. I like to play anything I am capable of. Anything but main stream sell out music. Metallica,Beck, Van Halen, all the quality stuff is fun for me. I also enjoy Jazz,fusion,rock, and anything that will help me grow as a player.
I've been playing for about 11 years and I think this has made me grow as a player. Before this it was an acoustic mess around guitar that I played everyday.
My back up is a basic set up. A Fender Deluxe twin reverb amp which is perfect for me with 3 BOSS pedals and two DOD pedals, HV-3 delay,nurse gate,super phaser, a DOD envelope filter, and a good old fasioned DOD buzz box. It all plugs into a power strip because replacing batteries is a pain.
If someone stole my 2101 I think I might get something else just to upgrade and move on to see what else is out there. But if it was stolen I'd be heart broken.
I love it because all people marvel at its possibilities and its so much easier then a bunch of pedals.It has its ups and downs but it is there to benefit me. I don't enjoy the fact that the tone is'nt as real as tube amps but works for my style. Through my PRS I have created the best distortions I have ever heard.Its the best feature.
I've played through other stuff and this to me is great until I personaly find something better.
It helps me seperate myself and be the player I want to be.I would suggest to anyone who wants a fun set up and has alot of spare time to get this amp the way they want it.
BEST FOR HARD ROCK

Read the manual about five times. There is a lot of options and menus available. In many ways this was a MAJOR jump from the GSP 21 (which I had also owned) and somewhat of a pivotal, forward looking product.

Better than the GSP 21, but it still sucks. The 12ax7 tube inside doesn't do you too much good tone wise, although I guess it is better than nothing.

I found it impossible to make good tones without resorting to TONS of effects. This is a great unit for FX heavy players, or people desiring a different tone per song--which is what I used to do. It would trip people out that none of our songs sounded like any others and part of the trick was this unit--and using a keyboardist that had different presets for each song. The only thing that stayed the same were the vocals, bass and drums. It was kinda cool I guess.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend if you are after a lively tone. This is best for people that have mediocre amps like Crates or Peavey, because it would be heresy to ruin a JCM 800 or Hiwatt with this things digital anemia.

Was robust all the time I had it, and I used it a lot for a few years. But, digital stuff can tend to go *poof* on you without much of a warning, so I don't trust it.

Well, this was PART II of my epic mistake period for guitar tone--Part I was when I had the GSP 21. Stupid me, I was disatisfied with the GSP 21 so I bought its latest incarnation. It was pretty good for the time I guess, it offered a lot of power: but not good tone, which was all I was really after.

Overall, I figure I wasted about 1000 bucks on those two processors (unit cost minus what I sold them for). Sometimes I just want to kick myself when I think back a decade ago and the stupid crap I bought, when I could have gotten something good for the same money.

Take heed when buying new technologies. Depend on the proven equipment, not some stupid fad like POD's.

Not so easy , specially if you don't have the manual . It took me weeks to activate a foot-volume function .

And you also have to program the effects chain , which's terribly bad in emergency situations .

The effects are amazing , umbelieveable , but all the drives are totally crappy and noisy .

The EQ is HORRIBLE , this unit is too middly-trebly , and the EQ can't solv that
.
And as all the Digitech users say , the wah is too bad .

And the tube distortions are simply too bad .

take a Zoom 510 , its a good match to be used as a backup = crap ;.

Even with the excellent effects , many famous musicians told me not to buy it , because it kills the original guitar sign . Yes , its truth .

That's why units like the Mesa Quad and the JMP-1 are so fantastic : they don't change the guitar's sound .

It's not as simple as a lot of other boxes, especially many of the newer ones from digitech and others. The concept is exceptional though. The reason for is complexity is flexibility. You can literally have any routing configuration you can imagine, and you can do some crazy stuff with this. if you don't think of what you're doing ahead of time, you might get some crazy, un-useful sounds. but on the other side, if you are inventive, you will really love this box. In other words, if you like to program sounds and are not afraid to dive in, you will love the sound of this. It has a good sound, and it is a useful tool. Has very flexible MIDI implimentation which is partially why I bought it. It's easy to tap in and out individual effects and is programmable to tap individual effect levels to any level you like. Plus it can transmit all this via MIDI CC's. For what you can do with it, it is fairly simple to use.

I rate the sound quality between great and excellent. If want to make something totally new and different, there's not another box like this outside of an expensive eventide. It has a nice reverb which compliments the utter programmability of the rest of the unit. You can use a MIDI footswitch to change any parameter in this beast very simply (I'm using the 3.00 software revision). With amazing programmability, great reverb and cool stuff like smooth whammy, it's great for making new sounds. As others have stated, the wah is crap and is basically unusable (for me at least)... but a great compliment to this machine is a resonant filter effect like those found in synthesizers. Route that through the FX send and you've got a nice wah plus incredible "space" rock sound or ambience.

I had a few interesting glitches when I upgraded it to 3.00 software... but after re-initializing the hardware a couple times, it shaped up.

I play ambient rock/industrial accompanied by synth sounds and drums ala Bjork, Radiohead, and U2. If you love to program sounds and have complete control over routing, this is an awesome box. If you just want something you can use, you might be dissapointed or downright hate the thing. Also, if you want a good wah built in... eheh, prolly look elsewhere. If you have one, some cool things to try are to use low pass and high pass e.q. filters on it to route only portions of the guitar's frequency to different effects and mix the outcome into one signal. a cool sound I've found is to route the high frequencies through a flange then mix with the dry signal to a delay, then mix with another dry signal to a reverb, and then mix the outcome with another dry signal.

original gsp-2101, made in usa,1993-94.easy once you get used to it.the manual is thick, it is comprehensive and you would need to approach this like a textbook.You won't have a choice as the presets mostly suck.( altho' you can tweak the presets pretty easily to get a good sound. they are the basis for good tones...) yes, a pain in the ass,but like learning your scales,it will definitely pay off.As i was saying, the manual is thick and at times a little much on the digitech propaganda side, but i guess this was really a groundbreaking unit... anyway, i've had this unit for 9 years(!), i guess it was time to do a review. the good news is,once you learn to tweak this, you will get excellent sounds.

ok, sound quality. i've read here people saying this "sounded hollow and lifeless"...well, i can agree on some of the presets, but this is where e.q. and tweaking the presets, along with a good tube poweramp comes in.is the preamp gonna get you into VHT or bogner- ville?well,with major tweaking and closed back cabs, a definitely, 100% kinda,sorta but not really(yuk-yuk).less organic.this brings me to my rig: i'm using(or have used) this with a les paul classic,carvin dc-127, ibanez rg550 and s540, carvin t-100 tube poweramp and 2 1-12 cabs with vintage 30's. dead silent rig ( just be careful dialing in the gate too much. you can kill your sustain very easily with this) effects are great ( except the wah which blows donkey balls. this is a waste of chip space)but so incredibly effective in range that you can overkill very easily.the distortion, for instance on the heaviest settings(grunge or saturated tube). one who loves lots of gain may think" oh.this goes to 11. kewl!!" well, except for seriously grinding thrash chords,most people who are playing at any real volume probably won't really need the distortion past 6.6.-7. especially for leads ( does anyone still play leads? please?) and yes, i love gain.
The reverbs are outstanding. again, very easy to overdo.you have total control over the parameters, so don't blame the unit.( read the manual) i don't know how someone could complain about the cleans on this unit. with proper e.q. and the gigaverb program, you can find pristine tones worthy of any professional recording. additionally, here are the other effects:
delays: clean and very flexible
tremolo: pulsing and sexy. i have some great presets with this. i don't know how anyone could dislike this if properly tweaked.great for blues or country.
phaser: very flexible, wide sweep
flanger: the same.
wah: sucks, sucks , sucks...but who bought this for the wah?
chorus: good on dist.great on cleans with delay. yum-yum. very good gilmour tones here.use in stereo with a panner to seperate cabs. magnifico!
distortion: ah, so subjective. i think very good on tube saturation and the grunge circuit is excellent for solid state. it really does seem based on a randy rhoads type of distortion!
anyway, my advice is always check wet/dry mix level and you can keep your effects under control.( at least until ready to dive into heavy parameter manipulation.)

well, i've owned this for about 9 years. haven't changed a tube or a battery, and i play everyday. have and will gig without a backup.(have no choice at moment,my wife let me get the les paul classic this year. next year another amp. yay!!) i once had to do a hard reset ( lost all my presets) because i pulled out the cord for the footcontroller while the unit was on ( this aspect really sucks. they should have put a family-size warning about this on the manual).

have dealt with customer service before,never a problem.walked me thru the hard reset and were very courteous. ( altho' there seems to be quite a bit of conflicting opinion here. they jus' like me cuz i wuz sweet..)

i've been playing about 18 years, mostly fusion-y,hard rockish metal type stuff(?),with forays into jazz, flamenco,funk, etc...this can adequately handle anything i have thrown at it.
if stolen...i'd get my insurance money and look around at whats out there. for an all in one unit,the sound and versatility are hard to beat. i would probably go the boutique amp route with some high end petals.( which i plan to do anyway, but i don't think i'll sell this ). most modelling amps i've tried don't actually sound as good as i've managed to tweak this, but i guess they may ultimately have more versatility. ( altho' the valvetronix sound was very nice,the line 6 stuff has done nothing for me.not even the vetta.haven't tried the zentera yet, but i'm sure i will.does this hurt or help in making music? it helps in that you have a lot of flexibility to try to achieve the sounds in your head. the thing that hurts is that you end up micro-tweaking a million parameters.( this could just be my problem.yuk-yuk)and may find yourself never satisfied. but some weirdos (like me)sorta like that about this unit. i guess you can't have it all ( even when your rig has it all.)

Go get a good sound is very easy , the only thing I didn't like was :
if I want a Pitch Shifter , for example , I need to find a factory preset with this effect , so I change the effect configuration , but there's no problem about doing that . The manual is NOT necessary .

No noisy , its noise gate is wonderful , and everybody seem to agree ith me . I just didn't like the Chorus , but all the other effects are excellent . Metallica and Satriani patches are easy to get .
The preamp seccion is very powerful ; I get a very heavy sound without problems .

Therion ( Christofer Johnsson is my friend since 2001 ) used it since 1995 on their gigs , but Chris told me he sold it and got a Mesa Triaxis and a Gmajor . I almost bought his own 2101 , but he told me it was falling into pieces , so I gave it up . No problem about depending on the unit , but we can't abuse the C1 ( the foot controller ) , because its not sooo strong .

I tried many Digitech , Boss and Zoom units , and I can say this is the best one . In comparison with the discontinued 2120 VGS , the 2101 is much stronger , and it doesn't have the crappy digital sound the 2120 has . You must know how to operate with rack units , and you need a loud amp ( what about a Mesa 2:90 ? ) , or it will sound weak , of course . Ah , the drive is much better and stronger than the WEAK Marshall JMP-1 too . IMO and long experience , if you want a floor multi-effects , try a Boss GT , but if you can go beyond , try this one .

I noticed the guy who wrote the review below this one is Brazilian , like me , so let me write him a few words :

E ai , o que se passa com o seu rack ? Eu li seu texto e percebi que voce tinha alguns descontentamentos com o seu 2101 . Me mande um email , se possivel . Eu sou de S?o Paulo .

Some people change the tubes , but I didn't and it's not necessary . Upgrading the unit is good to get those seamless patch changes .

I really like to tweak knobs on my gear, and I had a GSP21 before, and a lot of stomp boxes. Sorry for you lame guys out there, you MUST completely understand what every parameter means to get this thing sounding great. So, the greatest thing about 2101 is the possibility of creating new chains, but it's not easy to do without pre-planning. I used to draw the chains of FX to control the "linking section". Said that, if you want plug-and-play, buy cheaper boxes and stick with it.

I use Gibson Nighthawk and LP Gothic and for amps I have a Marshall Valvestate 100 and a JCM2000 DSL100. I used to plug into the input of both amps, but never achieved a decent low. So I decided to use both 2101 outputs into the Valvestate input (using the tube channel - its clean channel is the worst amp sound I've ever heard) AND into fx return (which gives me more bass) and mix'em. But this setup isn't possible on the JCM, and I think plugging it into the input made it sounds thin. But plugging it as a real preamp worked great, after I tweaked the global EQ (great thing when you change amps).
High gain patches are noisy, but very usable. Clean effects are great, I use tubes for every clean sound. Well, wah sounds stinks (everyone said that), but if you creat some weird chains it can produce abnormal sounds (for real wah sounds I have a Cry Baby). The pitch is too slow, but I don't use it anyway. And the best thing about this box is the assigning of the foot controler - 10 parameters at the same time! It makes me crazy - for example, I turn the gain down, increase compression, adjust 3 EQ frequencies, volume output, chorus and delay outputs at the same time - IE, two completely different patches smoothly changing when you bring the pedal up/down... amazing, if you have the skills/paciency to program it...

Well, I had 3 other DigiTech before this one, and 2 of them broke down... DigiTech products seem to be too sensible to AC variation (in Brazil it occurs a lot). Knowing that I never use it without an AC stabilizer, and for 6 years without a problem, I can't complain anymore. The foot controler however for three times went nuts. At the second time, the continuous pedal stopped responding. Well, it drives a LED up and down in front of a photo-electric cell. That LED needs power, and the wire that gives it power moves along the pedal. What happens when you twist the same wire for 6 years continually? Solder it back and you got it working again.

Well, I'm in Brazil, and the official support sucks. Too expensive and slow.

Well, it is a great unit. I really depend on it. Benn playing for 20 years, and I don't want to change it, although I was impressed by some new features of the 2120. And if I lost it, I would buy the new ones from Digitech.

I put the update chip and the card in mine-I can literally sound like anything I want. I got Steve Morse, Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Robin Trower......anything I can hear I can make. the manual is good, but a little better directory would have been nice. I had to put postit notes all over the thing for the first few weeks. Mine came from the factory with the upgrade chip. I paid for it and a chip came in a box. I followed the directions, and the unit kept locking up. I called them five times before We figured out what happened. It's a tool call to Salt Lake City, too. They sent me a chip for the Vocalist packaged as the upgrade. they accidentally installed the upgrade in my unit prior to shipping. So I guess I got what i paid for, it just cost $10.00 in phone calls and a few headaches to get it going. I wouldn't think of ever getting rid of it. I run a PRS thru it and it is great.

The only thing I don't like is that you can't turn individual effects on and off in the signal chain. You have to make duplicate settings minus the desired effect. I guess that's what they make stomp boxes for. Also, the wah stinks. I compare it to a Dunlop, so I guess I'm not being fair. I run this into a Carvin T100 stereo power amp driving 2 Carvin 2/12 cabs with 200 watt speakers. I like it at 4 ohms and the presence about 90%. I DI this with the emulator alot, and no one can believe how huge it is. Everyone thinks I ran my stack at full blast.

I always run it without backup. I run Bass and Vocals thru it when recording. The S/N is great and lots of headroom.

Like I said, it took 5 phone calls before we got it fixed. Most just seemed content to tell me to ship it to them (at my expense). The last guy really knew what he was talking about, though.

This unit is very easy to use to replicate as long as you have basic soundcraft skills, a ton of stomp box experience, or a combination of both. I used a huge pedalboard and racks before I bought this. The only thing that now doesn't collect dust is my talkbox. I sold my amp, all my pedals except three, and tossed the rack stuff. I'm a 22 year vet with tons of stage and recording exp. If I could afford it, I'd buy three more. One for insurance (backup live rig just in case of voltage problems) the rest for the sheer pleasure of owning them. Like a sports car. One is great, but twoo or three would just be that much better.

The factory presets are easy to use, just turn a knob and away you go. Unfortunately. the factory presets are for the most part, crappy. Worse yet, they are organized in no particular order so you really have to scroll through them all to find the good ones.

Programming this unit is not easy. Its easy to modify existing programs, but difficult to create new ones. The manual is great for those who are tech wizards, but no so for those who want to plug and play. The manual could have been laid out in a more understandable format. However, once you've learned to program patches, the GSP is pretty easy to use.

I use a 78 Ibanez, a 86 strat and a 93 Carvin, a 83 Fender Twin, and a 92 Fender Super60 with a Boogie 4x12 cab.

Sound quality is mixed. First off, I dont use this unit for its preamp. The preamp sounds like crap IMO, dead and lifeless with a hollow sound. I simply run the gsp through the preamp in my amps. The gsp's 2 tubes dont compare to my Twin's 5 preamp tubes.

The effects in this unit are excellent. The distortions are great, with lots of options for sound. The tubes sound pretty damn good, the digital distortion can shred if dialed in. A drawback is that to get good sounds, you really have to fiddle around.

My only complaint, if it can be one, is the digital reverb, which sucks, because there is no such thing as a good reverb without springs. The digital reverb in the gsp is not too bad though. To be honest, I dont use most of the effects as I prefer to use only dist, comp, noise gate, reverb, and eq.

So good so far in the 9 months I have had it.

this is a good buy, for the right price of course. This was my first processor, after years and years of being a pedal purist. Since, I have sold most of my stomp boxes, except for a few fav, which the GSP cant emulate (fuzz face, dynacomp, and tube screamer).


Too bad this thing is so old, because the online support for this product is minimal. There are only 1 or 2 patch sites, which is really too bad. Then again, this thing's age means it will cost less to buy.

***** This is an update from my previous posts ******

Please read the previous reviews for my point of view and check out my website for detailed information.

www.vanhelden.demon.nl/gear

WANNA KNOW WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE?

check out my website: www.vanhelden.demon.nl/gear
and go to the audio samples or the GSP2101 section.


I think the GSP-2101 is by far the best fx device DigiTech ever made and there are only a few other devices (such as the Eventides) around that can match the flexibility of this one. I've always been into making weird (jaw dropping) sounds with it and have now created a sound that is soo close to an analog synth that many people that I know could not believe it was done with a guitar and the GSP2101. And they know what they're talking about, they are the ones that use those synth!.

I know most of you are just looking for some chorus and delay, so the audio sample won't be much of a help. But it clearly shows how far and absurd this device can go. Don't think that any Rocktron, TC Electronics or Lexicon device can do this. So go on and check it out.


www.vanhelden.demon.nl/gear


I want to add another thing to my previous posts. I've got my 2101 now updated with the lastest software and with a 2nd S-DISC. I wish I would have done that sooner. I now got seamless patch changes and am able to make the most complex setup I could imagne!. JUST BEAUTIFULL.

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!