Yamaha DG-1000 Digital Guitar Preamp

Plug and play, there is really nothing to it. I've been using this pre-amp for about 12 years in live-settings and it's easy to adjust to different acoustic environments. Just turn the knobs and press the store-button. However, in hectic conditions on stage, stroking the midi-button is enough to make you wonder where the modifications have gone. It presses too lightly. The adjustible input-knob on my dg-1000 doesn't seem to be working properly: with high-output guitars it just won't clip while you hear a lightly distorted sound coming up. But this is actually not really a problem.

Very clear tone. Keeps the sound-characteristics of different guitars intact. No problem to make sounds resembling a serious Marshall-stack, classic Twinreverbs (which I own aso) and it has enough versatility to make the other guitarist in my coverband cry when he tries to create sounds on his full MesaBoogie-set up.

I still wait for the moment one of the motordriven knobs don't work anymore. Never happened in all those years I've been playing this thing. And I switch presets all the time!

I bought it second hand. No problem to reload factory-presets via computer, when I bought it, mucho gracias to the retailer.

The Yamaha-people forgot to add an extra output on the rear, or an input to use the dg 1000 directly with a floorboard. Now'I have to use an effects-processor to switch channels (and to be able to play stereo). An extra signal input on the rear would have been nice too for estatical reasons. The manual is useless, happy to read here that somebody found out how to use it directly into a studiomixer, thanks!

This is a tip for you who own this product and want to take full advatage of it.Since it is nowhere to be read in the manual and since maybe all of you users doesnt know of it - it has a speakersimulator for directrecording.To turn this on , press the buttons Midi , Clean2 and Arrow-up simultanously and the Screen will read "on" for a short while.

Easy to use, no issue..You can even edit the settings and save via midi cable using PC..GREAT

Allan Holdsworth?? NO PROBLEM...Very sweet jazz clean sound,,my favourite.no noise, no problem!!!!!!!
I use it with Peavey 5050 power amp and Mesa 5050 befroe,,sounds amazing..

No tube breaking,,no worries at all,,very reliable,,giged man times,,never let me down..all datas were bakup in my PC

I play rock fusion,this is perfect for me,,IT IS THE MOST Versatile PREAMP I EVER USED!!!!!!!!!!

There are a lot of people who will tell you that since this isn't a tube preamp,it is garbage.Well,this is completely wrong(if you don't trust my opinion,just ask Greg Howe or the master of tone himself-Allan Holdsworth).It is one of the few preamps that can give you all the sounds you need,from bright clean tones to screamin' overdrive to lead tones with great sustain.And one thing that has to be cleared,is that the DG-1000 is not a modelling preamp(such as the Line 6 models),but a tone machine with its own character.Although this is a digital unit,the sound is extremely warm and tube-like(and not noisy at all).

I recommend using it together with a good quality tube power amp(that way you are going to take full advantage of this machine's benefits).I personally use it with a Parker MidiFly guitar,a Mesa/Boogie 20/20 power amp,a TC Electronic M-One XL dual effects processor,a Yamaha UD Stomp delay/modulation unit,and a pair of Carvin VE212 speaker cabinets(my setup also consists of a switcher,two line mixers,two volume pedals and a synth,but probably that isn't interesting to any of you).This rig allows me to get the tones I like.My style is jazz fusion(Allan Holdsworth,Tribal Tech), but my opinion is that this preamp is suitable for every style of music.

The versatility itself!The simplicity of this unit and the 8 preamp types(Clean 1 & 2,Crunch 1 & 2,Drive 1 & 2,Lead 1 & 2) can get you any sound you want.

I can certainly depend on this 2U rack preamp.

I've never dealt with the Yamaha Service Center in Greece,so,no opinion here.

As I already said before,I ... try to play jazz fusion and the DG-1000 is one of the few preamps that can help you in the eternal search for the ultimate tone.So,there is no reason to hesitate.Wherever you find it,buy it.You will be amazed at how this preamp sounds.I really can't find something negative to say about this unit.Comparing it to the other great preamps of the market,such as the Mesa/Boogie,VHT,CAE,Soldano,Bogner,and Egnater models,I can assure you that the DG-1000 is superior or ... of the same value to a lot of these awesome machines.

I think that anyone can get a great sound out of this preamp(suited to their style).Just select one of the 8 preamp types(Clean 1 & 2,Crunch 1 & 2,Drive 1 & 2,Lead 1 & 2)and start moving the knobs!Really easy to use.

There are a lot of people who will tell you that since this isn't a tube preamp,it is garbage.Well,this is completely wrong(if you don't trust my opinion,just ask Greg Howe or the master of tone himself-Allan Holdsworth).It is one of the few preamps that can give you all the sounds you need,from bright clean tones to screamin' overdrive to lead tones with great sustain.And one thing that has to be cleared,is that the DG-1000 is not a modelling preamp(such as the Line 6 models),but a tone machine with its own character.Although this is a digital unit,the sound is extremely warm and tube-like(and it is not noisy at all).

I recommend using it together with a good quality tube power amp(that way you are going to take full advantage of this machine's benefits).I personally use it with a Parker MidiFly guitar,a Mesa/Boogie 20/20 power amp,a TC Electronic M-One XL dual effects processor,a Yamaha UD Stomp delay/modulation unit,and a pair of Carvin VE212 speaker cabinets(my setup also consists of a switcher,two line mixers,two volume pedals and a synth,but probably that isn't interesting to any of you).This rig allows me to get the tones I like.My style is jazz fusion(Allan Holdsworth,Tribal Tech), but my opinion is that this preamp is suitable for every style of music.

I can certainly depend on this 2u rack preamp.

I've never dealt with the Yamaha Service Center in Greece,so,no opinion here.

As I already said,I ... try to play jazz fusion,and the DG-1000 is one of the few preamps that can really help you in the eternal search for the ultimate tone.So,there is no reason to hesitate.Wherever you find a Yamaha DG-1000 preamp,just buy it.You will be amazed at how this preamp sounds.Comparing to the other great preamps of the market,such as the Mesa/Boogie,VHT,CAE,Soldano,Bogner,and Egnater models,I can assure you that this preamp is superior or ...of the same value to a lot of these great preamps.

If you can't get a usable sound out of this within minutes then stick to playing banjos. Other than the midi configurations the amp is as easy to use as any other amp I've ever used, editing is a piece of cake, and with one in and one out its hard to go wrong.

I've got six guitars I use all the time with this gear from teles to Les Pauls and you can get them all to sound fantastic and, more to the point, natural. I've never had a piece of gear as good as this.

I've got a Boss OS2 in front of it just to boost the input a little (its set full vol and everything else is at zero, Its very rare I actually turn the effect on though) then into the DG-1000, out of that into an SPX900 and 90, then into an Alesis RA-100 amp and into an Ashdown Fallen Angel 4x12. Switching is handled by a Rolls Midibuddy pedal.

I've had a few different amps over the years, from Marshall JCM stacks, Laney valve stacks, Laney transistor combos, Hughes and Kettner hybrid combos and Peavey combos and what a waste of time buying them was. I only bought the DG-1000 because it was cheap off eBay and I have built the rest of the rig round it, definately the best bargain buy I've ever had. I love it. It has renewed my enthusiasm for playing every day because I love the tones.

Its been bomb proof so far, kids at home can't bust it and its handled gigs with no trouble.

I started in a punk band way back when and still love to play this music but as I enter middle age I have broadened my horizons and now play a variety of styles, but tending to the jazz and blues end of things. Not to say I still like banging out the odd Slayer and Metallica riff too and every sound I want is just a foot tap away.

If it was stolen I would definately have another as I think its the greatest influence towards my playing I've had in the last five years.

Only critisism, no input on the rear panel.

Can't believe that Yamaha don't make this anymore, it is the best pre amp I've heard, and I've been playing for nearly twenty years and worked as a guitar tech and sound enginner for 12 of those.

Incredibly easy to use! I mean, I have been a player for 20 years and have played all sorts of digital and tube stuff but this is so easy that I didn't need to read the manual. No hidded maze-like menus. If you know how to turn a nob then you're all set!

I am using a Peavey USA strat w/ Texas special pickups in to a Digitech RP-200 (for the Whammy) into a Cry Baby into a DOD Flange into a Boss Digital Delay into a Marshall Vibratrem into a DBX 266XL Compressor/Gate into the Yamaha DG-1000 into a Marshall 9005 all tube 50/50 poweramp into a Hughes & Kettner Vortex 4x12. It sounds amazing. I mean, I would never have bought this if I didn't hear someone playing it in the store. Quiet as hell. Tone is amazing! I drive the preamp to the fullest and use the knobs on the Marshall poweramp to control the volume because I drive the tubes and it gives me that amazing breaking up sound that I love. It sounds like something Jag Tanna (I Mother Earth) would use. If your reading before buying this... BUY IT!

I have had it for a week. 2 rehearsals and 3 shows. It looks sturdy. Feels sturdy. I guess it's sturdy....

Never dealt with them....

I play I Mother Earth and Nickleback and Our Lady Peace. Mainly hard rock, alt/rock, prog/rock,Heavy blues, Metal, and some jazzy stuff. It does all I need better than I would have ever thought. It kicks the crap outta Marshall JP-1 and Marshall 9001. If it was stolen I would buy another 4.

I love the fact that I can play with my band and, depending on the room, change the eq or volume to suit the room and save it with one click. I can tweak all night as we play and never piss anyone off like you do when you're trying to tweak your pedals.

Just try it and you'll agree...

I use an Ibanez Artist from the late seventies with tri-sound-PU's and because of its verry bright sound I use DR-blues strings on it. I play it directly into a studio compressor and a quadraverb plus. Then directly into my computer or the poweramp of an old Valvstate/12".
I mainly play anything but trashmetal with a focus on blues and jazzy songs.
This preamp realy sounds like it would have tubes in it, but it's modeling. It is verry quite, even if you turn the drive volume up an that's what I realy like. You can get a Marshal fullstak sound out of it without all the noise that comes with the hi-gain. It has a very good speaker simulation but you can not select any cabinet type. This isnt nessesary because every cabinet modeling I've heard didn't sound naturaly. So ther isn't so much to say, it's great and I will try it also live. Don't forget to activate the speaker simulation after turnig it on if you want to play over a fullrange system!

Preamp with 8 Amp models, motorised knobs a speaker simulation and enough memory and Midi in/out but no effects thrugh.

It's solid! And I dont think one can break it.

no problems

I am playing this unit now half a jear under studio like conditions and I will sell my Ibanez TK888 a real tube overdrive now 'cause I didn't use it since I've bought the DG-1000. I would buy It again if it get's lost. When I bought it I was thinking to get a real good tube amplifier like an old modified bassman top with at least a cabinet with two 15" JBL or a 65 blackface twin or a ruby riot. I think I've got everything I wanted and saved a lot. The only thing I wish it'd have is to place effects in,before or after the tone control.

Pretty easy to use - none of the never-ending digital interfaces (like on the GP-100). Its easy to fiddle about with the EQ and different amp-models. I thought the manual is rubbish though - only 4 pages which was far too short... kinda cheap. Finally mine came without the factory pre-sets... Would have been cool if they were included.

I'm into a wide-variety of styles - HM (Maiden, Megadeth) to Jazz through to Mojo. I need a versatile amp that can emulate loadsa sounds. I use the DG-1000 for studio work and pass it through a Behringer 9024 (for compression only), Behringer 8024 into a VS-880 (HD recorder) and played through Tannoy Speakers (a budget studio). I use both a Fender Strat and a Les Paul. Right getting to the point:
-Clean Tones - I likes these. They sound warmer and richer than those on the GP-100 (that I own also). Nothing to say.
-Crunch: Again I find them very superior to the Roland's but I prefer the AC-30 simulation on GP-100.
-Drive- I'm not totally satisfied here. Drive 2 is all right but they both sound 'artificial' unlike say the POD pro or Rocktron Pirana.
-Lead-Really let down here particularly on Lead 2. It sounds so fuzzy. The GP-100 does a better job (with the 5150 Lead).
I also find the lack of effects rather frustrating - no reverb, no chorus, nothing... So I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to somebody without compression/reverbs etc...

Just got it recently. Can't tell.

Again. Haven't used customer support (and hopefully wont!!).

I kinda feel I've been harsh on the unit (only 'cos I really like the distortion used by bands like Maiden/Megadeth/Metallica). But it can be used for anything apart from that - I'm currently using it on my blues stuff...
I think I'll still be using my GP-100 'cos of better distortion sounds and effects. I also think it has aged badly - not enough outputs (I mean one output is just plain ridiculous!). Again no digital outs which won't go down well.
But I got this model for a pretty good price ($220) so I cant complain. I'll recommend this if you've got other units 'cos it is restricted in its uses.
I'm waiting to see if Roland are comming up with a successor to the GP-100.

It is so easy that practically anyone thet desnt play a giutar can set up a good sound for you. It is just like a classic amp front panel with familiar knobs. Gain, Volume, Treble... set them and hit Store. No deep menues here, just sound at your fingertips. Later you just hit recall and any of 128 programs can be recalled.
There is four band EQ (Treble, High Mid, Low Mid, Bass) plus Presence knob. The EQ is quite powerfull with right speakers. I had Celestion G75T-12's and I could not color the sound much. Jus like she speaker's and preamps frequencise wouldnt match. But with Vintage 30's that I now have ,it is just on a contrary. The EQ is very powerfull now.
MIDI IN, MIDI OUT.
Eight preamp settings: Clean1 and 2, Crunch1 and 2, Drive1 and 2, Lead1 and 2.
Speaker Simulator.
Overall output and pregain sensitivity TRIM knob.

Several years ago I would give it a 10 for Features, but today I miss XLR balanced outs, Digital Out and maybe some FX, although I have them in the rack.
What I dont like is that I payed more for this unit than the new DG STOMP costs. DG STOMP has 10 FX and the hardware is practically the same. DG-1000 has none. There were upgrades for all other DG amps but not for DG-1000.
So this is an 8.

OK, I now have DG for over a year. I wanted to submit such rewiew that would tell what no other has told yet.
My setup: DG1000,Marshall EL34 50/50 poweramp, Celestion Vintage 30 Speakers. The guitar is Ibanez Steve Vai JEM555
DG is supposed to recreate tube amps sound, and it does. But there are differences betwen simulated and real amps.

DG 1000 advanteges over real tubes:
DG almost does not feedback, unless you want it.
It is very very quiet even without noise gate.
You can get a big number of different sounds from one little box.
It is reliable.
Some simulations are clearer sounding than real amps (due to noise).
128 Channel MIDI switching.

DG1000 disadvantages:
At the peak level attack notes coming out of DG have not so different character or texture as when you attack hard trough tube preamp.
The character and the color of the sound changes alot from light picked to hard picked strings on DG, and it also cleans up almost completely when you turn down the guitar wolume, but still it has it's limit.
I call this as a color dynamic response. It is about 90% of a real amp's one.
The dynamic response also is a few db lower than with tubes. I havent measured this but I estimate it is around 112 to 115db. The best tube preamps have over 120 db dinamic response.

Maybe the DG1000s sound is not so full ad not so deep as tube preamps. You can EQ it alot but it is still not so complex.
However tube amps are not so versitale. That means that you can always find a preamp that falls short against the DG on a ceirtan setting:
DG1000 blows away Rocktron Piranha on Blues, Country and warm rock lead sounds. Piranha takes charge on Metal sounds.
DG1000 is better than Mesa Boogie Triaxis on laid back, while Triaxis is better cutting trough full blast. Triaxis is too noisy and sometime too edgy, DG is rounder sounding
Marshall JMP-1 is rockier but is cold on clean sounds.
And so on and so on. You get the idea. No preamp is perfect.

Clean1:
It is bright and has better dynamic than Clean2. It is clear sounding (each string is well pronounced) and has tight although not so much bass.
Clean2:
Very warm sounding (I have heard nothing like this before). Alot of bass. Fuller and more woody than Clean2. Apropriate for soloing. The sound can be more acustic like. The strings attacks are more melted together in the chord, though still clear.
Not so tight on the low end and troughout.

Crunch1:
Warm and liquid sounding. Less gain than Crunch2. Jazzy, well defined notes on the highest gain settings with neck humbucker pickups. If TRIM knog is full open and have a highest gain setting you get really really nice, close to the Mesa Boogie traditional warm lead sound troughout the frequency range. (MY FAVORITE with neck DiMarzio Evolution pickup)
It is a shame that the Trim knob is not programable. The character of the sound changes when you turn it up that it is more liquid and has more gain (great for solos) but the chords are then mudier and lose dyynamic when you switch to the rithm sound program. So you have to change the trim knob position betwen some sounds. This is not so often and in the studio this is no problem but live playing...
Crunch2:
More dynamic than Crunch2 and more tight. Rockier sounding. Not so warm and Liquid. More for rithm sectios.

Drive1:
Has a special character at the edge of note attack. I was telling you about this topic. I really like it because of that distinctive sound at the peak of each note. Great for blues. It kind of brakes up when you dig hard into strings. Great.
Drive2: Les bass, not so warm, but alot tighter than Drive1, so it breaks up even more evidentely. I like it even more. Not so apropriate for chords as the chord is too broken apart.

Lead1: Apropriate for soloing. Very warm, although in comparison with Triaxis it doesnt cut trough sometimes, and sometimes isnt dynamical enough as I would like. Not so tight, maybe for some tastes too saturated and not so naturally

No problemo Man.

As I said. No downloads for upgrading DG1000. Every other DG model with the same preamp can be upgradet with FX. Where is the justice?
1 for this
10 for Q&A
So that is 5

I play rock and blues. Have been playing for 8 years. Have tried every real and modeling gear. GP100 simulation sucks, FX are great though. Johnson is lifeless. Line6 has recognisable amps, but tend to be muddy, great for recording though.
If it was stolen I would wait that Yamaha puts out the next improved version, that has better studio conectivity (XLR, digital out,...) , has more great speaker simulators, and it can be upgraded. Much of that is now in a DG STOMP now but it isnt rack mountable, and is cheaper (weird). Overal Line6 POD PRO comes close.
In 10 years time... Hmmmmm..... Frightening.

The unit is very easy to figure out - every button and knob is well labeled and fairly straightforward in usage. Also, all the knobs move when you switch patch/amp model. That's a cool feature, and makes it pretty easy to see your setup, but it gets a little frustrating since the knobs move so slow. That's only an issue when you're seting up patches or just trying to experiment with sounds, but having to wait up to ten seconds to make adjustments every time you switch amp models or patches to tweak the sound gets old quick.

It's got eight basic amp models, each of which is modified by a master, gain, bass, low-mid, high-mid, treble and presence knob. Splitting the mids up was a good call.

The DG-1000 is a digital modeling preamp. I saw Chris Rodriguez playing live using one of these through a fender head, and really dug the sound, so I found one on eBay. It emulates eight amp sounds. They don't claim to be aiming for any particular amp, but to listen I'd say the folks at Yamaha were going after a Matchless sound. (Actually, before I went and looked at his gear I was pretty convinced Chris Rodriguez was using a Matchless just from the tone.)

I did have a bit of trouble finding an amp that agreed with the unit. Plugging it into the guitar input of any amp yielded pretty poor results. The one amp I had nearby that had an effects loop was a crate vintage club 50. Not a spectacular amp by any means, but it seems to have a fairly warm sounding power stage. Clearly bypassing your amps pre-stage was the way to go. I threw an eq in front of it and tweaked for a bit and the unit really came alive. I would guess that plugging straight into a power amp and a decent cabinet would save someone all the trouble I went through.

I'm very pleased with the sound. It two lead stages are pretty high gain, though not exactly ultra-high gain, so it'd be inapropriate for playing an of this butt-rock revival stuff I hear on the radio these days. (or maybe it's my strat copy that's inapropriate for that style, who knows.) If a cranked dual-rectifier is 10 on the distorion scale, this thing delivers somewhere in the 7 neighborhood. Still a lot of distortion but if you're in a Creed cover band you might want to pass this one by.

I've owned it about three months, so I can't say with much authority that it'll last. I will say that I'm impressed with the quality of construction. It's very solid. Also, the power switch drives a relay that kills the output before killing power to the unit, so it would be safe to turn it on after your amp is on or off before the amp. That really says nothing about the unit's reliability but it's a small touch that at least shows Yamaha was interested in making a quality product, and adding features even if they aren't the sort of thing that would appear on marketing literature. Also, most other professional Yamaha gear I've used has been of very high quality.

I've never dealth with them. They have some patches and literature on their website, so that's sort of cool. I bought the unit used, so I doubt they'd feel very compelled to give me a lot of support.

I've adopted a new policy about posting reviews for guitar stuff, and that is to own the gear at least 90 days before I review it, so I think I'm being fairly objective here.

The DG-1000, while being a purely digital unit, has no "digital" (i.e. chorus, reverb, etc) effects. So it's not nearly as flashy as Digitech's flagship unit, for instance, but has way more lasting value. I've been blown away by factory presets that are all drenched with effects and, in a musical context, not all that usable, only to find that what lies underneath is a very average sound dressed up with way too many effects.

This unit is usable and understandable immediately. The lead and overdrive tones are sweet and surprisingly responsive to dynamics of playing and volume control. I usually find whenever any piece of guitar gear claims to have a crunch sound you can substitute "muddy, unusable mess" for "crunch," but that's not the case here. The clean sounds are nice, too, but if you consider Fender to be the definitive electric clean sound it will fall a little short.

It's midrangey, so if you don't like the electric sound of say, Toad the Wet Sprocket or Live you may very well end up EQing all the personality out of the unit. (It's pretty verstile, so maybe not.)

I think I paid $285 for it, and my overall rating reflects that. If I had paid list price ($800, I think.) I probably would be give it a 7 or 8.

An excellent purchase, I'm very happy with it.

It is so easy to use I did not have to dig trough the manual at all(I found out that after reading the manual). My girlfriend does not play a guitar but can find the sound in seconds. Just like kid stuff but still very pro.

I play a Ibanez Jem 555 guitar. It has character belive me and DG-1000 does not kill it. It gives the guitar tone the unbelivable flexibility. Neck pickup (DiMarzio Evolution) sounds extremely warm with the clean 2 setting. I have never played trough an amp that would sound so warm and still crystal clear. Then comes the same pick up with drive 2 setting. All you hear is just the blues that even most of fenders do not produce. Next stop is lead 1 setting. It sounds so smooth and warm i thought i am playng trough mesa boogie. OK maybe not just like so but considerinhg the price... I like very liquid warm but still full of live sound with the lead 1 setting. The most of (pre)amps have liquid sound only when you darken the tone considerably on the guitar and on the amp EQ. That kills the tone. No such thing with the DG-1000. There are also great crunch and great metal or punk sounds. What I admire is that this preamp does not simullate any famous amp. It has its own sound, so do I. It is not noissy even if you create superdistored and loud patches. When you use it with a good valve power amp the sound is accurate and does not lose definition. I used it with squier 15W at first (funny ha?!). Suprrisingly it sounded very dynamicly. I was then shocked when I plugged it into a Ibanez GX60 amp (solid state, middle quality). It sounded far better I expected. The secret was in the "trim" knob. It matches the guitar output with the preamp input and it has too be set so the preamp almost but still not clips the signal. The bottom end gains dynamic, power and definition. I played trough a Rocktron Piranha but sounded like a toy against that mindbubbling bottom end. I thought of playing it then trough a marshall el34 50/50 valve power amp and 4*12 Celestion Vintige 30's. The conclusion: The true projection of the sound with extra added valve poke. Why I gave it a 9? Because I know there are (although not many) preamps that sound better (eg. triaxis). Don't be suspicious about this preamp being a digital one. I know what good tone is and I am willing to spend a lot for it. You won't notice that there are no valves in there, honest (just use it with proper components).

Have it for 8 months. Cannot really say...
I am worried about the motorized knobs, but the people in yamaha have probably also consider this before starting selling them.

They were very friendly when I e-mailed them and asked for a advise on a proper midi foot controler that would enable me to control various products from diferent makers via midi merge in real time. Got a useful answer.

I play blues, rock, metal and it really suits my needs. I've been playing for 6 years. I own now a Marshall el34 50/50 power amp, marshall 4*12 Celestion Vintage 30 and an Ibanez Jem 555 electric guitar. I would buy it again if anything unpredictable came across. I was testing various gear in hihger price range, but nothing compared to it (Rocktron Piranha, Marshall JMP-1, Line 6 Pod, Fender Hot Rod DeLux and any other Marshall or Fender combos or heads). Of course there are also mesa boogies but are out of my range. I miss direct XLR outs and FX loops, but this is not a big problem. Sometimes I wish it had two processor chips so there would be no delay betwen program changes. It is a very slight but in some cases it is anoying. Otherwise, this is pro stuff.

This thing is easy to use!! It tweaks like an amp, but is an incredible sounding all digital guitar preamp. I use it with a midi switcher, and I can program every song for my whole gig easily, and it programs much easie than other preamps that I have used.

I use it with several types of guitars for every kind of music except metal and country. After every gig someone comments about the great sound of my guitars. I record it miked, but mostly direct with the speaker simulator on. It sounds like any amp at the twist of a button

No backups needed. I have 2 of these, and I use them every day. In 2 years they have never broken.

Long phone waits, but very helpful. They told me about a midi upgrade on the website and it was awesome!

I am hard on gear. It works great. I run it into an Alesis midiverb then to a Mesa 20/20 stereo poweramp. It just sounds great!! Direct or miked it is better than a JMP-1, any Rocktron product, except for a Soldano or a Trixaxis, but they are close to 2 grand. Great product. It looks great too!

You can get a wide variety of Sounds out of it. I'm currently using it with my Ibanez RXxxx(am upgrading to ESP M-II very soon!).
I play mainly metal, and it's nearly perfect for that.
In the lead channel, it has too less gain, but with a tube screamer in front, this schould no longer be a problem.
Finding a suitable sound is also very easy, just dial in your sound with the knobs as usual and here you are.

The DG-1000 is basically the preamp used in the Yamaha DG series of Amps(so see those reviews for detailed information). Though it's not a tube preamp, it sounds pretty close.
THis thing is very versatile, it has 8 different Gain stages (clean 1&2,crunch 1&2,drive 1&2, lead 1&2). 128 user editable MIDI Presets.
Doesn't have an Effects Loop, wich doesn't matters much; just run from its output into your multi-fx box...

I can't really tell, had it only fr some weeks and no chance to gig with it yet. But it seems reliable.

Never dealt with them.

I play for several years now, had other amps, but this is my first "all rack" system. I'm using the Yamaha with a replifex and an ENGL 840/50 TUBE(!!) Poweramp. This is a really good preamp, I compared it to an ADA-MP1 and Triaxis, the TriAxis was the better amp, but about five times more expensive....
For the money, you get a pretty good preamp, which blows away others in its price range as well as higher priced gear(like the ADA, imho)BUT be sure to use it with a good TUBE Poweramp!

Unlike any other preamp of this caliber, you can actually use the damn thing. The dials make it just as easy to use as a normal amp. Anyone can great tone from this

I'm using a Park practice amp with this (kind of defeats the point ...) but it still rocks. And I have played it through decent amps, e.g. Marshall, Fender, Laney. Whatever. It rocks. I mean, the distortion tones can be anything you want. You can get any sound from this.

Well, it's big, metal and heavy. I don't thing it's going to break ...

I like Yamaha. They're very nice and cuddly.

I paid #99. F*cking ridiculous! It lists at #799!!! And it's just the sweetest thing. It's not worth #800, but it is worth at least #400.

For the price I paid, an easy 11 out of 10, but then, I don't think you can get it this cheap unused anywhere else, and the store that was selling them cheap has now gone back to retailing at #375.

Only one downer - it doesn't come with a MIDI footswitch, and that's gonna set you back a fair bet ...

There isn't too much to say on this one. Yamaha has strived to designed the interface as traditional as possable. You get a standard arrey of controls - pre-amp, master, treble, high mid, low mid, presence - as with most single channel amps, except the extra mid control which is nice, 8 voice switches - clean 1&2, crunch 1&2, lead 1&2, drive 1&2 - input and output pots and finally the storing recall buttons.
All you have to do is set up your input level till the led lights green. Select your voice. Twist a knob or two till you're happy. Play your guitar. If you like what you've heard just select a patch number and hold down the store button for a few seconds.

That's it.

Firstly I've come out of the pre-amp and into the power amp section of my Fender Super60, then into my Marshall SE-100 (power soak and speaker simulator) from there it goes into my mackie desk with a Behringer Autocompressor as an insert effect and finally I add some reverb with a Midiverb 3. All this gets monitored on a pair of Absolute Zero speakers. Ok Ok Ok so its a recording set up not a live one!
I'm not really into mega distorted tones, I'm more of a bluesy jazzy funky kind of a guy. This preamp can deliver some really good crunch sounds. The clean tones aren't very fendery but the EQ section is powerful enough to warm things up nicely.

Does it sound Tubey? I think you could say that it sounds just as tubey as a lot of tube amps but it doesn't sound greatly tubey like a AC-30 or something. To put it another way, I own a JMP-1 which is tube based and sounds rubbish, the DG-1000 isn't tube based and it sounds better.

Can't say. The only thing I'm worried about is the life of the motorized knobs.

The shop I bought it from is part of a big chain. Don't know if that's good or not yet.

I like it, its just another box to my collection which doesn't really sound like the other boxes I have.

I liked the price, #99 pounds or US$170!!!! It's list price is #799 here in the UK. #99! WOW!

I guess that Yamaha haven't been able to sell any since the release of Line 6's POD. I can see why too, people want lots of different amp sounds with effects. I remember all the fuss over the original Zoom though too. Deju vu......

#99 though. Ridiculous.....

This thing is easy to use. Knobs like an amp, wan't to store/push the button, want to recall/push the button. 128 patches to store. You don't need a manual for this one !! ( manual included is only 3 simple pages, plug and play, yeh ). The amp is really easy to use. Presets to work with: 2 lead/2 drive/2 chrunch/2 clean No effekt send/return. One way in/out. There's a midi in/out. Works well for dumping settings.

I've owned many amps. None got me sattisfied completely. A marshall/vox is good for the marshall/vox sound, don't try anything else on it. In my opinion that goes for most amps. So I was looking for something that matches more sounds. I use the preamp with a marshall 8008 / marshall box and a boss gx700. The reason for buying is that the boss misses the knobs, and you have to do some editing before you get a "nice" basic sound.During a gig there's no time for editing ! With this in mind and a small budget, +/350 US, i decided to go for the DG1000 ( in the netherlands were i live it costs bout US800 !) The yamaha sounds good without any editing at all...That's for the clean/crunchy sounds. So far I don't like the lead sounds ( bought it recently ).Here the amp misses something, sounds cold. It might be the marshall I use as power amp. As far as I know the preamp is only 1/3 way to a good sound. Poweramp/speaker does the rest. I was nicely suprised when I plugged my Godin LGT (s/s/h) into the yamaha ,yip, with this preamp there's a big difference between the pickups. I also play an AS200 IBANEZ through it, I have to get used to the new sounds of this one. For the money payed, very good value. The going price in my country is bout US750. If it's worth that money I'm not sure.
I gave it an 8, maybe not fair because of my poweramp. Through a real tube poweramp I suspect it to sound much better/ even good.

I don't own own it long enough for an opinion about reliability. But I don't suspect any problems. Using a backup, let's be honest if you're no pro., who the f... has the money for backin up everything.

I'm playing for about 20 years now. The longer I play the more important becomes a good sound to me. With this preamp I'm satisfied. Still to come is a good power amp. I play different kind of styles, swing/jazz, blues latin/afro. For these styles ( clean/crunchy) it matches good, especially with the gx700 wich I use for chorus/delay and reverb, no more crunchy sounds out of this one. A good sound helps me playing good, inspires. With this one I can't complain right now.
The price payed I gave it a 10.

The DG-1000 is as simple as an amp. Pick one of the 8 amp settings, set your Drive,EQ and Master settings and store it. That's it. And, oh yeah, The front panel knobs are motorized!. They change position with patch changes. They do take some time to move but the sound changes instantly. No gaps in between!

I've used it with several different setups. Power amps (Alesis RA-100, Mesa Boogie 50/50, ADA Microtube and a Peavey 50/50 and 60/60, with several diffent cabs from single 12's to 4x10 and 4x12's. I've also used it with lots of differnt single and double 12 in combo amps. It also works VERY well for clean sounds DI'ed into a mixer. All in all the best sounds I've recorded on tape or played live. There are 8 different amp simulations; 2 clean's800, 2 crunch's, 2 drive's, and 2 lead's with a 4 section EQ (Treble, Hi and Low Mud, and Bass, plus Presence) that actually works when you move the knobs. I can't begin to say usefull the EQ is. It really widens the already huge tonal choices. Live i use a Strat and a Tele, both with Humbuckers in the rear. I also use a Yamaha AES 1500B Semi Hollow body axe and several differnt acoustics, and they all sound great. Actually, it forces me to play better because I can't blame any bad sounds on my gear. One other thing, this is the most quiet piece of gear I've ever owned. A "10" I sold my Peavey TubeFex for it

I depend on it every day and night, and it has performed flawlessly, although I do take a backup. Folks, if you're going to the gig without a backup, you WILL incur the wrath of the Equipment Gods at some point. I learned that in fornt of about 4000 people once and will never forget it.

Yamaha's ALWAYS been great for support. The best out of all the manufacturer's I've dealt with.

I play with 4 different bands: Pop, Alternative, R&B, and Country. It works with great with anything. Period. I like it so much I bought 2 and will probably invest in the full combo amp when it hits the shores. And hey, THE KNOBS MOVE!!! I couldn't ask for anything more. Just having the freedom to turn around and make an adjustment without going thru a maze of menus and pages is a huge relief. It's really the best preamp I've heard.